Fate Asterism Liner
by Seiker Hikaru
Summary: Given the unfortunate task of watching over Rin and Lluvia in their assignment to gather the Class Cards, Eil had been expecting trouble from day one. Trouble was certainly what he got, and a bit more than he bargained for as he met Illya and Miyu. More than a simple mission to collect some cards, but a change that would alter their lives completely.
1. Chapter 1

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 1: Contract**

"So, young master, let's review the exact nature of the situation again, yes? Just as a reminder to why we so suddenly left England."

The sound of a book clapping shut accompanied the annoyed voice of the teenager as the middle-aged butler across from him in the seats of the private plan adjusted his posture. The teenager who'd shut the book couldn't have been any older than fifteen or sixteen in age, his pale features lending a distinctly Eastern European look, but still soft and boyish, one would rather say pretty as opposed to handsome, with a slender frame his clothes notably sagged on a bit, a basic ensemble of a white and black track jersey, t-shirt, and jeans. Messy strands of finger-combed white hair drifted down his head and stuck up and about, a notable bit sticking right up like a curved antenna, some of the strands drifting in front of bright, sky blue eyes seeming to bear this kind of cold, occult feeling, lent to by the sharpness in their look.

"You asked this a few hours ago, but, whatever. In short order I'm going to Fuyuki City to act as a supervisor to my unfortunately trigger-happy seniors, Rin Tohsaka and Lluviageleta Edelfelt, as they complete a task assigned by my mentor, Zelretch himself. Because of the fact those two rub each other the wrong way, Lord El Melloi II figured me going along would be a good addition, and Mentor agreed. About twelve hours later and here we are." The teenager said, opening his book and going back to flipping through the pages, "That good enough Albert?"

"Quite, Master Eil. I only asked because, well, as this was such a long flight and all, you do tend to space out when you're bored." The butler said, stroking his beard, the teenager only giving a hum as he clapped the book shut again and looked out at the dark twilight of evening, the vague skyline of a city just within view, Albert taking out a pocket watch, "Judging by the time we should arrive not minutes after Lady Tohsaka and Lady Edelfelt."

"Let's hope they don't mess up within a few minutes… but, let's not have hopes be too high now." Eil stated, setting the book and looking out of the window again, "But my prediction is that it won't quite go so smoothly considering why they even ended up here."

"Despite the case it _is_ somewhat impressive two young magi like those two were able to do so much damage to… quite a considerable portion of the academy." Albert said, pulling out a ledger book, "I'll take the maids and get our residence here set up. An old yakuza friend of your father's is lending us a place, so no issues there."

"Right. Then I'll be sure to find the two of them, hopefully before they start making trouble… if they do. I'd rather have some confidence neither one tries to start something not even a day into things."

* * *

" _Well I have been proven thoroughly wrong!"_ A hand came to Eil's forehead as a sigh escaped his lips, one eye opening to view the sight in front of him. Two young women, despite being a good margin shorter than the fifteen year old, who had the distinct impression of being a margin older than the boy. One with black twintails in red, and the other with blond drill-curls and in blue. Rin Tohsaka and Luviageleta Edelfelt, more commonly called Lluvia, respectively, his two seniors on this assignment… but definitely not his superiors.

"So, is the immediate spat necessary when we're on the people mover or is this just your thing?" Eil said, an unamused scowl on his face, the two older teenagers stopping their bickering to shoot around and look at him, "You do remember _why_ Mentor sent us here right? Or, to be more precise, why _I'm_ here with you two?"

"Of course we didn't forget. But being around _her_ just makes me want to vomit!" Rin jabbed a finger at Lluvia, who only gave a huff.

"Honestly, he forced such a bothersome condition on us!" Lluvia said, Eil just sighing again.

"Yeah let's not forget _why_ he did so." The young man's biting tone got an irked motion out of the two older girls, and he moved past them as he put his arms behind his head, "Considering the state you left the school in and all."

"Hey she's the one who started it!" Rin snapped, Eil looking back at her with a somewhat narrowed gaze.

"And you only made it worse. Then again not that Lluvia isn't at fault for doing so because of a misfire." Eil's statement quickly got Lluvia to go from smug to shocked.

"Well then perhaps she _should_ have taken more care during class!" Lluvia said, Eil just sighing again as they stepped off the mover.

"Doesn't change the fact you decided the best reaction would be to fire a Gandr at Tohsaka's face." Eil said, Rin snickering in a smug manner as Lluvia bit her thumbnail. "But let's not waste time bickering and get looking yeah? We're here on an assignment, we have two weeks, so let's just get it done so we can head back to England."

"I agree with _that_ sentiment." Rin said.

* * *

"Goddamn those two!" Eil's shout went around through the darkening streets of the city, a glower on his face as he looked around, "Ditching me when I went to use the bathroom, what the hell?! What were those idiots even thinking?!"

The young man skid to a stop when a flash in the air caught his eyes though, looking up to see that, what an untrained eye would probably have thought to be fireworks, but at this time of year? He knew better, clambering up a nearby building to reach the roof

"Aquila." Eil murmured, a blue glow coming to his eyes as a flash moved across the area near them, like lit up circuits. His vision then focused, becoming clearer as he focused on the flashing lights, and it became more apparent they weren't flashes, but streams of colored energy lashing out from two different sources, a grumble coming from Eil as his eyes lost the glow, "Idiots, using the sticks in the open! Doesn't matter if you're above the city of not you're still making a ruckus! AGH! Why did I agree to this again?!"

Eil sighed as he hopped down from his perch and started moving again, eventually finding himself at the bridge connecting the two parts of the city from this area, his approach to the riverbank also came with the clear sounds of screaming, Eil sliding down the bank to the flat area below, folding his arms as he stopped just at the waters edge as the two screaming people came crashing down into the water.

A few moments later, the gurgling forms of Rin and Lluvia rose out from the depts and near where Eil was, the young man giving a flat look as he stared for a moment, sighing and nabbing the two girls by their shirts, yanking both from the water and onto the shore, spluttering being what followed next as Rin and Lluvia flopped onto the grass.

"I left for two damn minutes." Eil remarked, his expression best placed as disappointed, "Not to mention because of your need to wail on each other, Ruby and Sapphire have apparently buzzed off to do their own thing! Seriously it _cannot_ be that hard for you two to work together!"

"It's not like we knew they'd spontaneously decide to run off!" Rin snapped, Eil raising a brow.

"Old Man Zelretch made those two sisters and you somehow _didn't_ expect them to be able to disobey you on a whim?" Eil remarked, Rin looking to the side and fiddling with one of her twin tails.

"Well when you put it that way…" Rin murmured, Lluvia shoving her aside. "Why you!"

"If it wasn't for your uncouth mannerisms we wouldn't _be_ in this mess!" Lluvia said, Eil giving her an even flatter look.

"You started it didn't you?" Eil's biting monotone got Lluvia to cough into her hand, Eil sighing as he put a hand over his eyes, "This assignment isn't a competition, you know that right? And now the tools we need to actually _get_ to those Card things have flown off to Akasha knows where!" he then threw his arms up and turned around before lowering them, "Honestly, working together can't be impossible. You're like a pair of cats who keep fighting over the feather toy! There's no point to it but you act like it's the most serious thing around! You better still have the two Cards we _do_ have or…"

The thing that made him stop was the silence. He was expecting some kind of snapping response, not a dead silence, so he shot around… only to see his two seniors had completely vanished, the only thing left on the ground being a note, swiping it up and reading it, only to them _immediately_ tear it to shreds as a twisted smile began spreading across his face.

"Ahehehehe-I'M GONNA KILL THEM BOTH!" Eil snapped, circuit like formations shining across his legs, the leap sending him into the air, his foot coming down not on the water, but on a platform in the air, a blue pulse from the air, Eil launching upwards from there and getting above the roofline of the town, looking around for any hints of Rin and Lluvia, _"They couldn't have gone far, where'd they end up? Hmm… well, they probably ran off after Ruby and Sapphire, so if I can find those two, I should find them. As for the one who'd likely be looking for a new Master first… that would be Ruby! Then let's find her, and hopefully Tohsaka along with her!"_

But before he moved again, another thought came to mind, causing him to pause for a moment.

"Now just where the hell did those sticks go?!" Eil's yelling was answered by a beam of light suddenly appearing in his vision, some distance away but nothing he couldn't cover quickly with his current method of movement, his expression blank before shifting into a smirk, "Well this makes it easy!"

With a push off from the mana platform, Eil shot off through the air, making another step as he descended, moving downwards as he proceeded near the pillar of light, stopping on the rooftop of the house just opposite where the light had come from, and a smirk came to the boys face when he saw Rin, still rather thoroughly soaked through from the dip in the river, creeping about at the back of the house below.

"There you are ya' runaway little cat!" Eil grumbled, looking over at the fading light, though the bushes in the way obscured the source of it, but he had something of a guess in mind, and thanks to the distance, it wouldn't be a problem for him to hear anything before he decided to actually drop in.

"You're not at all like that magical girl hag!" A particularly cheerful voice was the first to reach his ears, the boy sighing as he shook his head a bit, Rin stepping out from around the corner as she flinched at the remark.

"Ohhh? And who would this hag _be?"_ Rin demanded, Eil moving his position to be neatly behind Rin but still above, and the change in spot brought into view exactly who Rin was glaring at.

The girl couldn't have been any older than Eil, if he had to take a guess anyway. As his vision moved from the top down, the first feature he noted was the nearly white-blonde hair the girl had that flowed down past her waist, some of the strands moving in front of red eyes standing out on pale skin, and couldn't be more than a bit taller than Rin, but with a figure Eil would refer to as… tastefully curvy yet still slender. Not at all helped by the primarily red, frilly outfit accented in white and gold she was in… and his eyes narrowed on the similarly colored wand in the girl's hand, topped by a circle with a five-pointed star in the middle and three "wings" on both ends of it.

"Well at least Ruby picked a hot one." Eil remarked.

"Oh, if it isn't Tohsaka-san! I see your still alive… and horribly soaked." The stick moved around as the cheerful voice from before came around, Eil shaking his head to the motions. Said stick was in fact alive, a Mystic Code device named Magical Ruby… and a perennial pain in Eil's behind to deal with.

"Yes, thanks _so much_ for that." Rin bit, "It really is a wonder I'm still alive. And now I've got Eil chasing me too! I can only hope he went after Lluvia first!"

"Yes, how unfortunate that would be for you, considering his fiery temper. And how terrible that must have been!" Ruby replied, and the stick's motions got Eil to realize he'd been spotted by the Mystic Code, but that didn't bother him so much as it stood.

"You are utterly shameless…" Rin growled, Eil taking the moment as Rin stepped to the other girl to hop down from her perch and into the yard, starting to creep up on Rin from behind. "Whatever. Come to me, Ruby! I'll teach you who your Master is!"

"No, no, there's no need to teach me that!" Ruby said, shaking her tip as one would their head, which all things considered it _was_ for the wand, "After all, this girl right here, Illya-san, is my new Master!"

"Huh?! Hey, you…"

"I-I'm not!" Illya yelped, shaking her other arm as her expression became a tad terrified, "It's a scam! She tricked me into it! Before I realized it I ended up this way!"

"Oh, well… I can imagine." Rin murmured, then she flinched once the malevolent presence _finally_ registered to her, Illya also flinching as a shadowy figure rose up behind Rin.

"Tohh-saa-kaa!" Eil's voice was a threatening rumble as he spoke, Rin recoiling as she shot around, Eil cracking his knuckles as a smile one could call anything _but_ happy showed on his face, his eyes similarly threatening, "I'm not an idiot y'know? I knew Ruby would probably be the first one to find a new Master, so guess who I went after _first?"_

"H-Hey don't get too mad here! I only ran off because Lluvia… no, wait, that only makes it worse." Rin remarked, flinching again as Eil got right in her face.

"Damn right it does! I wasn't _exactly_ planning on spending our first night here running after you two, but look where we are now!" Eil snapped, making a point to jab a finger off at Illya.

"What else are we supposed to do huh? Point is I _found_ Ruby, so I'm here to get her back! That fixes things yeah?" Rin said, Eil letting out a chuckle, pointedly moving a bit of his hair back with a hand as he did so.

"Tohsaka this is Ruby we're talking about. There isn't much going back with her." Eil stated, Ruby flitting over, dragging Illya with her as it happened.

"Yeah! Illya-san is my Master whether you like it or not! I've already overwritten your Master registration. Whether Illya-san wills it or not, unless I permit it, it is impossible to exchange Masters!" Ruby said, the yelping in fear when Eil suddenly grabbed her, his grip crushing down on the stick's top, "OWOWOWOW! Are you trying to crush me?!"

"Yes, I am! Don't think the fact I know you won't swap out so easily means you're off the hook you troublesome stick!" Eil snapped, squeezing down harder as Ruby continued to yelp, Rin glaring at the stick for good measure as she cracked her knuckles.

"That's just fine Ruby! Maybe I'll just treat you nicely until you decide to do so yourself then!" Rin snapped, Eil releasing Ruby from the death grip with a small huff.

"I see you're as passionate as ever. Do you really miss being a magical girl that much Tohsaka-san?" Ruby asked, Rin giving a huff in response.

"Why would I miss it?!" The twin-tailed girl snapped, "If anyone saw me like that, it might as well be suicide!"

" _I_ saw you like that, for the record." Eil casually stated, gaining a flat look as Rin yelled in shock to his statement.

" _So I'm in a situation that might as well be suicide huh?"_ Illya thought, her eyes glancing to Eil for a moment as he and Rin started sniping at each other, Illya generally somewhat tuning it out from a sense of disinterest and lack of understanding in what they were even on about at the moment anyway… and rather found herself stuck staring a bit…. And a moment later, her eyes shot wide, _"A bishonen! I just noticed he's a bishonen! Total bishie, complete, undeniable, real life bishonen!"_

Her eyes were stuck on his face, the soft, vaguely androgyne features that seemed delicate as a flower but strong all the same, the small, smirk like quirk of his thin lips and the sharpened slant of his eyes rather than a look of gentle roundness, the thin figure hidden under the baggy clothes…

" _WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING RIGHT NOW?!"_

"So… mind telling me why you're staring like I've got something on my face?" Eil asked, Illya noticing he and Rin had stopped arguing over whatever they'd been arguing over to look over at her.

"EH?! N-Nothing! It was nothing!" Illya yelped, Eil just sighing as he shrugged.

"It wasn't something _on_ your face. It _was_ your face!" Ruby said, Illya then promptly slapping the stick onto the nearby wall hard enough to leave both a Ruby shaped dent along with a small crater, leaving Eil and Rin to merely glance at one another.

"Well whatever. But, look kid, we need that stick back." Rin said, Eil nodding.

"Yeah we're uh… here on a sort of school assignment… thing… and she's sort of needed." Eil said, Rin looking at him, "What?! Not like I can just spill it outright!"

"Yeah but we may have to." Rin noted.

"True." Eil noted, looking back over to Illya and Ruby, "Actually, Ruby, how did you even get this girl to give you the blood you'd need for the identification?... you didn't ram into her face did you? Because you're the kind who'd do that."

"Well I mean I _was_ probably going to do that, but Illya-san here has quick reflexes it turns out." Ruby said, ever cheerfully so, "As for how I did. I just showed her a little picture is all, it got one heckuva nosebleed out of her!"

"Picture?" Rin and Eil both repeated the word, Illya's face turning scarlet as Ruby nodded to them, producing the mentioned item.

"Ta-dah!"

"Lemme see that." Eil swiped the picture from Ruby, Rin leaning in to take a look at it, both teens faces growing a bit darker in expression, "Ruby, why the hell is this a weirdly altered picture of me?"

"Perverted stick…" Rin growled, Illya yelping.

"WHAT?!" Illya shouted, looking at Ruby, who only gave a chuckle despite the glowing death glares being shot at her now.

"So what should we do now huh?" Rin asked, raising a finger up, a small orb of black forming at her finger tip, Eil holding his hand up as Illya flinched back, Rin raising a brow.

"We don't need to get violent so put the Gandr away." Eil stated, Rin just huffing a bit as she did so, lowering her hand, "Besides not like a simple Gandr would work anyway."

"Don't forget that Kaleid Ruby has many magical powers." Ruby said, Illya however looking drastically more confused than she had before, "Which happens to include an A Rank magical barrier and physical protection. So a simple magus like you wouldn't be able to pierce it! Well, maybe Eil could if he-GAWGH!"

"Remind me to duct tape her to a wall next time she almost says too much!" Eil had grabbed Ruby again as she spouted off, Illya only giving a nervous chuckle as the stick flinched in agony, the girl finding the sheer contrast between Eil's fiery personality and looks more than just a _bit_ jarring to witness.

"Uhh… I'm not sure if I should apologize for this or not." Illya said, Eil sighing as he released Ruby and pocketed his hands.

"It's just how Ruby is. My mentor, her creator, didn't exactly _plan_ on this personality, but we're stuck with it." Eil stated, Ruby only giving a proud chuckle in response to what _was_ an insult.

"So, we're seriously just letting the girl have Ruby huh?" Rin asked, Eil nodding.

"Not much else we can do with a contract made." Eil stated, turning to Illya and flashing an amused grin, which made the girl flinch and blush just a tad, "Sorry to drag ya' into this, we really don't want to get others involved in our business, but I'll give a preemptive "welcome aboard" anyway."

"Well to be perfectly straight, you don't have a right to refuse." Rin added matter-of-factly, "If you're going to hate someone, hate Ruby. You're going to have to become a magical girl, and collect the Class Cards!"

"Well that's certainly one way to put it." Eil noted, Rin huffing at the smirk he showed her, Eil then drawing a hand out and pointing a finger at Illya, "So, that makes you the new Master."

So much was going on at once Illya's mind was barely more than a torrent of confused emotions and information rushing her all at once from the other two teenagers, but, it was easy enough for her to understand one thing: That somehow, she'd become involved in something serious, something incredibly troublesome.

And yet her mind was stuck more on that whimsical, cocky smile.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sooo… yeah. Consider Coltheart officially dead, cause this is gonna be usurping it's place. Not that I didn't** _ **like it,**_ **mind you, in fact it was one of my favorite works… once it actually got off the ground anyway. But I gave it some serious thought and then the result ended up being this. So, yeah, older versions of the previously younger ones. Not that this is a simple reboot doing that, ahahaha nooo… for you see, I've been researching the ever loving** _ **hell**_ **out of the Nasuverse! I'mma be** _ **packing**_ **this one with references to Stay Night rather than just running the gamut again.**

 **Also see if you can catch the hints with Eil. I await your reviews, and will see you next chapter. See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 2: First Battle**

"So, you convince them that was all just some wild prank of a commotion?" Eil leaned back in the chair he'd taken as Illya shut the door to her room, the girl nodding as she did so, the light movements making the pajamas she'd managed to don flutter just a tad, and Rin made an irked noise a bit at the way Illya's ample chest pulled at her shirt _just_ a bit.

"Yeah, somehow." Illya said, looking between Eil as he swung one of his legs as he leaned the chair further back, to Rin using her bed as a spot, then back to Eil for a moment, _"There's a guy in my room there's a guy in my room, THERE, IS, A, GUY, IN, MY, ROOM! I hid everything right?! Nothing was left out?! Sella doesn't know where I keep them so they should be safe!"_

"Well, you have quite the hysterical mother." Ruby, now in a form where she lacked the long handle, more just fluttering about as the top ornament, said, Illya giggling a bit.

"Sella's not my mom. She's our maid… well, technically we have two, but Leys doesn't do much besides lounge around." Illya stated, Ruby humming.

"Oh? So then where are your parents?" Ruby asked.

"They travel overseas a lot for work, so they're not home very often." Illya stated, Eil giving a hum as he fiddled with his phone, Rin leaning on a hand.

"So what happened with this maid of yours?" Rin inquired.

"Well, she said she'd catch the culprit of this prank, turn them into mincemeat, and ship them out at 98 yen a gram!" Ruby said, rubbing two of her "feathers" together like hands, then gaining what _could_ be called a scared aura about her, "Quite terrifying!"

"Is that so?" Eil said, a threatening smile on his face as he grabbed Ruby in a death hold yet again, "Well maybe Rin and I should turn over the culprit right now so that happens to her!"

"Yeah maybe we should!" Rin snapped, grabbing Ruby from Eil and yanking at the stick's edges.

"So, uhm… what's going on?" Illya raised a hand as she spoke, a _clack_ sounding as Eil let his chair fall back into place, standing up and leaning on the nearby table.

"Right, we should explain that to you." Eil said, Illya turning to him as he raised a hand near his chest, "My name's Eil Coltheart, and this here is my _senpai,_ Rin Tohsaka. In the long and short of it, we're mages."

"Mages?" Illya murmured, Rin nodding, Illya putting a finger on her chin in thought, Rin giving a soft smile at the younger girl's confusion.

"Well, you can think of it like some kind of magician." Rin said, Illya tilting her head.

"A magician?" Illya parroted, an image of Rin in a similar kind of magical girl outfit coming to mind… for which promptly earned her a chop to the head from Rin herself, as she and Eil could've sworn they saw the visualization.

"NOT LIKE THAT!" Rin snapped, Eil waving her down, Illya holding the spot where she'd been hit tenderly, "I don't want you to think of me as someone who'd wear such embarrassing outfits willingly! Believe it or not, I'm one of the Clock Tower's top candidates!"

"And yet we're here because you and Lluvia got into a cat fight that blew up multiple wings of the school." Eil snarked, Rin sitting back down and burying her face in her knees.

"Could you please stop bringing that up?!" Rin muttered, Illya detecting the honest shame coming from Rin.

"And I'm being forced to wear one of those embarrassing outfits too." Illya noted, Eil sighing as he put his arms behind his head.

"Well, let me explain it like this." Eil said, holding up a finger, a small bit of fire sparking to life at his finger tip, "While we say "magician" and the like, it's a bit more complicated than that. We don't use what you could call real magic."

"Huh?" Illya murmured, Eil flicking his finger to erase the ember on it.

"We actually call it "thaumaturgy", and to give the layman's definition, thaumaturgy are acts produced by magi that human science can easily match or surpass." Eil said, holding out a couple fingers like a gun, Illya flinching a bit as a small, dark ball of energy formed, "For example, this spell, called Gandr. Normally it's just a curse that inflicts effects like an illness, but an exception talented magi, like me and Tohsaka, can give it enough power to match a handgun bullet… now, recall what I mentioned."

"Match or surpass…" Illya murmured, Eil nodding as he lowered his hand, the girl snapping her fingers, "So, basically, what you guys do through your magic are things science can do itself, or even better? But then… is it really magic?"

"That's why it's called thaumaturgy." Rin stated, "In a way it _is_ magic, but at the same time it isn't. By the modern definition it would be, being able to naturally create these effects without the need of outside assistance like a machine or, as Eil said, a handgun. But to us magi, it's not. True Magic, as well call it, runs more along the lines of what modern people would call Miracles."

"Which is exactly where I come in!" Ruby said, Rin giving the item a harsh glare.

"So, what are mages like you two doing here?" Illya asked, Rin chuckling and donning a pair of glasses.

"Yes. This is where the real story begins!" Rin said, Illya and Eil both giving their senior a raised brow at the fact she'd put the glasses on.

"Why the glasses?" Illya asked.

"I guess it's to set the mood." Ruby responded, Eil just sighing as he put a hand over his eyes.

"To cut to the chase, we've been sent at the Clock Tower's behest to retrieve Cards in this city." Rin stated, Illya tilting her head.

"Something like this." Eil said, pulling an item from his pocket, Illya observing it to be a card about the size of your average tarot card, but it was a drab, bronze color and emblazoned with the image of an archer, Rin meanwhile scrambling a bit as she saw Eil holding it, checking the pockets of her skirt (one had to wonder how a skirt that small had pockets to begin with) before yelping, Eil snickering, "Sleight of hand! But, basically, these. We have two right now, and there's five more scattered around the city. It's our job to retrieve them so the Clock Tower can study them."

"Uhm… "A"… "R"…" Illya murmured, squinting her eyes at the printed English text on the card.

"Archer." Rin said, Eil handing her the Card as he snickered again.

"Archer? I don't recall that being a tarot card…" Illya murmured, Eil snickering a bit.

"Good guess, but this isn't a tarot card. It's called Class Card." Eil stated, Rin nodding.

"Yeup. This Card and the others like it all contain a special power, imbued by highly advanced thaumaturgical principles." Rin said, and Illya felt like a sudden weight had come down from those words somehow, "If it were misused, it could destroy an entire city."

"S-Something that dangerous is in this city?!" Illya yelped, Eil nodding as he pocketed his hands.

"Which is exactly why we need to collect them." Eil said, Illya taking a moment, then she pumped her arms a bit, Eil flinching a bit at how the motion made a notable bounce happen in the girl's chest, Rin again looking a tad irked.

"I get it, so you two are like an undercover bomb squad sent to secretly disarm the bombs planted in this city!" Illya said, Eil and Rin looking at each other then shrugging.

"Guess that's one way to put it." Eil replied, sitting on the end of the bed.

"But is mostly right, for such a unique comparison, sadly enough." Rin stated, her head sagging a bit, then clearing her throat, "So, for those reasons, it'd be too dangerous for us to retrieve the Cards on our own. So the special equipment they gave us…" Rin then swiped up Ruby as the magical item drifted by, "is this stupid stick."

"Well, there's a second one too, the one I actually like." Eil said, leaning on a hand, Ruby struggling against the hold on her.

"Calling a top-rank Mystic Code a "stupid stick" is pretty rude!" Ruby snapped, wriggling free and drifting off, "This is why we rebelled. We have the right to choose our Masters as well!"

"So then why the hell are you dragging a bystander into our mess?!" Eil growled, grabbing Ruby again and proceeding to start kneading the Mystic Code like a ball of dough, "Don't you know it's a rule for us magi to try and keep normal _out_ of our business?! And now you've gone and dragged an ordinary girl into our affairs! If this gets out the Clock Tower heads are gonna lose their shit! They're already scrambling because Mentor butt into things to send us on this mission! Who's to say they won't try to make a powerplay huh?! You're seriously gonna put an innocent into the line of fire like this?!"

" _That short temper really clashes with how pretty he is…"_ Illya thought, Ruby yelping unintelligibly as Eil continued to manhandle Ruby into a ball that he promptly punted into the ceiling, Rin catching Ruby as she fell back down.

"I agree there. We don't want to let this happen, but you see how this stick is." Rin hung Ruby by one of the "feathers", the item letting out a gurgling noise as Eil sat back down and huffed. "Therefore, until we manage to convince her otherwise, you'll have to help us retrieve the Cards."

"Sorry about it, but we kinda can't help is. So you're gonna have to be prepared to be busy, at least for a while." Eil said, moving to the sliding glass door that led to the small veranda, Rin dropping Ruby and following him, "We'll contact you when we're ready for business, so see ya later!"

"Be sure to respond got it?" Rin said, she and Eil hopping out from the veranda to the streets below, Illya paused for a moment, then things finally clicked.

"WHAAAAT?!" Illya yelped, falling back a bit as the shock was finally able to set in, "Just what the heck have I been dragged into?!"

* * *

"Well that went well, for a measure of it." Eil got a nod from Rin as he and the girl proceeded along the streets, Rin sighing as the cool night air blew by.

"Yes, thankfully so. But, now the question is where we're going to hole up for the night. We're so far off and I completely forgot where the hotel is in the rush." Rin muttered, Eil snickering as he glanced back at her.

"Oh don't worry, I got that one covered no problem." Eil stated, Rin raising a brow.

* * *

"Ehhhhhhhh?!" Rin let out a yell as she looked down the length of the considerable wall of the estate Eil had taken her too, the boy opening the gate into the yard of an old fashioned, incredibly large traditional Japanese compound home, the magus girl looking around as she follow Eil down the path, "How the heck did you get a place like this set up?"

"Ah, easy. My family has some ties to the local Yakuza, and the current head gave my dad this place as a favor. We get to stay here whenever we happen to wind up in Fuyuki." Eil said, Rin giving a hum.

"Wow, the Colthearts are more well connected than I thought." Rin noted, Eil giving an awkward laugh as he stopped at the door.

"Ehehehe… yeah, the Colthearts, that's who I was talking about, hehehe…" Eil noted the raised brow from Rin, clearing her throat to regain his composure, "Anyway, let's go inside! My butler and maids should've finished setting up by now!"

"Good, 'cause I'm beat. We can plan things out in the morning, yeah?" Rin noted, Eil nodding as he opened the door, the two being sure to remove their shoes as they stepped past the entrance.

"Sounds like a plan. We need to find out where the cards _are_ to start with." Eil said, the two proceeding from the main entrance hall into the more open foyer of the home, Rin nodding as she stretched her arms.

"That'll be easy. I've got a map I can mark their locations on with a quick spell. Be glad you've got a Tohsaka with you, or else this mission would be way harder!" Rin chuckled, Eil giving a light sigh.

"True, but we still have Edelfelt to contend with. She's gonna try and make this a competition no matter what we do." Eil muttered, Rin giving a heavy sigh.

"You're telling me. Agh man, we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for her!"

"We wouldn't be in this mess if _you_ didn't go and retaliate all the time." Eil sniped, Rin letting out a small growl, the two teens looking over when a door slid open, Albert exiting and giving a hum at seeing the two.

"Ah, young master. I see you have Lady Tohsaka with you." The butler said, the two teens just nodding, "Well, I'm sure you two must be tired from all that's happened. The maids and I have prepared dinner in the living room, so I'd please ask you both at least eat something before heading for bed."

 _Grrroowwww…_

The butler just chuckled as both Eil and Rin blushed a bit at the audible growls of their stomachs.

"Well I think that answered my question then." Albert said, the two teens just nodding.

* * *

"Alright, day one… what's our plan for now?" Eil set down the bowl of rice in his hands as he spoke, the morning sunlight filtered into the room, the busy sounds of people at work in the kitchen filling the air, Rin making marks on a map of the city as she picked at her own food.

"Well thanks to Albert I was able to get the scans of the city done quickly, and here's the results." Rin turned the map around, Eil taking note of the marked points on it, Rin pointing to each in turn, "There's one near the high school, the Ryuudou temple, the bridge, an old mansion, and then the last one is out in the woods… kind of a random place for that one, but, this _is_ Fuyuki, maybe there's something there we just can't see normally."

"Might be some kind of magical barrier considering how many magus families use this city as a secondary operations area, especially the ones involved in the Grail War." Eil stated, Rin nodding and tapping a finger, "If I had to make a guess for the woods… maybe an Einzbern set up? They're pretty secretive, so they wouldn't like their base being in the open."

"It just might be." Rin hummed, turning the map back around, "I think we should go for the Card at the high school first. It's distortion is the most notable, which would mean it's gathered the most energy so far. Let's just hope that Illya girl can handle whatever Servant forms from the Card."

"We forgot to explain that part to her now that I think about it." Eil murmured, Rin hanging her head as she realized that herself. "Well… I guess we can explain once we get there?"

"We don't really have much of a choice." Rin sighed, staring at the map again for a few moments, "But, that old house that was marked… I remember it a bit…"

"That estate used to belong to the Matou family I do believe." Albert, appearing as if from nowhere, stated, the two magi looking to the butler as he looked closely at the map, "From the looks of the place it had been abandoned from quite some time, so it's likely the residents have long left."

"Matou, huh?" Rin murmured, Eil noting the look on her face, like the name bothered her, Albert taking a quick bow before ducking into the kitchen.

"Something up Tohsaka?" Eil asked, Rin shaking her head.

"It's nothing. Alright then!" Rin clapped her hands together, "First goal, the Card at the school! It'll be easy enough yeah?"

"Uhm… yeah." Eil said, then giving a thoughtful hum, "So, how do we tell Illya about this?"

"Oh that'll be easy." Rin said, pulling out a pen, some paper, and an envelope, "A letter in the shoe box! No normal high school girl would ever fail to read one!"

"I dunno, I get the feeling Illya gets a lot of those." Eil said, Rin giving him a suspicious look, "You can hold absolutely nothing against me!"

"You were thinking something pervy weren't you?"

"I was not!"

"Whatever. We gotta do it somehow, and this is the best method." Rin said, already getting to writing a message down, "If there _are_ any other letters I'll just dump them out and leave this one in their place!"

"Maybe at least put something on it so she knows who it's from yeah?" Eil remarked, Rin just nodding.

"Yeah yeah I'll do that. Hmm, now what's the best message I could use?" Rin hummed, looking at what she'd written, Eil noticing her immediately scribbling something out, "Uh… _not_ that, that's too harsh."

"What did you write that you so furiously scribbled out?" Eil asked, Rin coughing into her hand.

"Nothing. Here, we'll both sign it, so you write your name. You can write in Japanese yeah?" Rin asked, Eil nodding as he took the pen and paper.

"I can speak all the major Thaumaturgical languages, so yes I can write in them too." Eil said, flicking the paper to see what was written, pausing for a moment as he reached the scribbled out part, _"Well clearly someone has issues with the size of their chest."_

"You read it didn't you?" Rin snapped, Eil just sighing.

"Adding a small addendum here." Eil stated, then writing his name down on the paper, sliding it into the envelope, flipping it over, "Now so that she knows it's from us… hmm, does "Magus Business" work or something else?"

"Hey so long as she shows up without us having to get her, I don't care what you add." Rin stated, Eil shrugging and jotting down exactly that, handing the letter to Rin, "There! I'll go plant this into her locker then!"

"We'll have time to kill until midnight, so what should we do until then?" Eil asked, Rin stopping as she shot up, "And at least finish eating first."

"Right." Rin murmured, sitting back down, giving a hum as she picked up her chop sticks, "Well, after that… maybe speculate over what kind of Servant we may have to fight?"

"Well we have Lancer and Archer… that leaves Saber, Rider, Assassin, Caster, and Berserker." Eil noted, raising five fingers in turn as he spoke, "We'd probably have pretty fair chances against Rider and Caster. Assassin shouldn't be too hard a fight, we could probably handle it without Sapphire and Ruby… Saber and Berserker are different cases entirely though."

"Yeah. Normally a Magus wouldn't even have a chance against a Servant unless they were incredibly weak, but this case is strange." Rin noted, a finger on her chin, "But you're right. Even with these oddities, Saber and Berserker will still be our most dangerous foes."

"Well, my family's got a bit of a thing with Identification type magecraft, so I can probably get a read on their parameters at least." Eil said, Rin nodding.

"That'll work out." Rin said, "So… that's about it huh?"

"Yeup. So, midnight at the high school courtyard then. Hehe, this'll be interesting."

* * *

"Annnd… midnight." Eil pocketed his phone as the time changed exactly, his outfit having changed up to something more uniform almost, rather than the loose fitting casual clothes from before, he was wearing a closed blue jacket with notable black segments on the arms marked with red stitching down the middle of the strips, dark pants and even dark sneakers, fingerless gloves over his hands, and Rin was looking him over a bit.

"What's with the outfit?" Rin asked, Eil adjusting the hood of the jacket.

"It's a Mystic Code made for a fight. Thing's about as good as a suit of armor, if not better. Don't tell me you weren't planning to help in the fight." Eil said, Rin tugging on one of her twin tails.

"Not that I wasn't, we just have no idea how strong our foe even _is."_ Rin said.

"Point." Eil said, looking around the empty lot of the schoolyard, "So, now where's Illya?"

"There she is." Rin said, turning off to the other entrance, Illya trotting over with Ruby in tow, "So, you actually came."

" _Well after you sent that threatening letter…"_ Illya murmured, Rin tilting her head, Illya sighing and reaching into the pocket of the hoodie she was wearing, pulling out the letter that had been used as summons, "This… what was with that part sniping at my chest? It was scribbled over but I could still read it just fine."

"Tch."

"Don't just click your tongue!" Illya snapped at Rin's response to her question, Eil giving a laugh as he stepped off the rail he was leaning on.

"It's nothing really, if you read my add on to it." Eil said, Illya pocketing the letter again, "But, sorry to drag you out of here so late. But like I said the other day, we mages kinda like to keep things discreet."

"Yeah I got that. So, we're going to start retrieving the Cards now, right?" Illya asked, Rin nodding.

"Time to start yeah. So, could you please activate the Trance?" Rin requested, Illya nodding before trudging off to the nearby bathroom, "Hmm? Where are you going?"

"Doesn't Ruby's transformation thing happen in real time?" Eil said, Rin giving a knowing hum as a light came from the restroom, Illya plodding back out a few moments later in the magical girl outfit.

"Sorry for the wait." Illya murmured.

"Why did you go hide first?" Rin asked.

"Because… it's embarrassing." Illya replied, the glancing over to Eil, who seemed entirely unfazed at the moment, _"And because I don't want a guy seeing that happen to me!"_

"Riiight. Well then, let's go." Eil said, pointing off a short ways off, "The Card is somewhere in the middle of the courtyard, that's about where the distortion it's causing was detected _but,_ as you can tell, there's nothing here. Nothing on _this_ plane of reality anyway."

"Huh?" Illya murmured.

"You see, the Cards aren't present in this world." Rin explained, "Ruby, if you would?"

"Yep, yep! Coming right up!" Ruby said, a glowing circle expanding beneath the trio, Illya yelping at the sight of it, the circle then starting to fill with magical markings and other such icons, the space around them beginning to blur, "Adding imaginary axis to the fifth instrumental variable. Beginning inversion preparation. Confirming that complex space exists. Central coordinates established. Establishing Mirror Road within two-meter radius. Beginning partial inversion of Mirror World Circuits!"

"Here's where it gets interesting." Eil said, Illya glancing at him, "Right now, Ruby is preparing to jump us into the world where the Card is. Now, if you can call alternate realities an infinite amount of reflections in the mirror, with our world as one of those many reflections, then the place where we'll find the Cards is the surface of that mirror. We call that the Mirror World. That's where the Cards are."

Within mere moments of Eil ending his speech, while it seemed like barely anything had shifted, Illya could immediately see the differences in space around her. A thin mist covered the ground all across, and when she looked up, the sky itself had changed, almost like she was looking at light bouncing off of dozens of glass panels, this odd sort of distortion going all around like it was some kind of barrier.

"Coordinates established. Dimensional transport complete!" Ruby said, Illya looking around.

"Uh, Rin-san? Eil-san?" Illya asked, Eil stepping in front of the girl as a dark mist began rising in the middle of the courtyard.

"Let me make this quick, because we don't have time for details right now. The Cards gather mana, right? Well, the thing is, once they gather enough of it and their distortion gets strong enough, the Card can take the power it has sealed inside of it and bring it out." Eil said, the mist gathering into a dark mass that began to swirl about.

"What is that?!" Illya yelped.

"As for what the Card forms into… well, you know mythological legends right?" Eil said, Illya nodding, "Well, little tidbit, most of that is real. Those heroes of legend, when they die, have their spirits encoded into a system of the Akashic Records call the Throne of Heroes, becoming what we call Heroic Spirits. The cards contain the power of one of these spirits. So, once they gather enough power, the Card itself can form into the Spirit it corresponds to!" Eil said, Illya's eyes going wide.

"Wait a minute, you mean we actually have to fight?! This isn't just jump in, grab the card, and get out?! We're actually in danger here?!" Illya yelped, Eil nodding.

"Sorry, but that's not the case." Rin said, "To retrieve the Card, you have to defeat it first. That's why we were given Ruby."

"S-Something's coming out!" Illya yelped as a shape reached out of the mass of mist, a gurgling noise coming from the figure as it edged it's way out, a woman who took a bestial stance, and looked towards the trio with a single glaring eye coming from some kind of eye-mask, a chained pair of daggers of some kind held in her hands, "What is that?!"

"That would be a Heroic Spirit." Eil said, his eyes showing a glow to them, "But, this one is different… it's blackened, corrupt… so I'd suggest moving _now!"_

As Eil yelled, he shoved Illya out of the way as the woman lunged at her, continuing to motion to following into a dodge as Rin shot back in the other direction.

" _Set! Flame Burst, trifold!"_ Rin produced three red gems between her fingers, flinging the three of them at the Spirit, the gems bursting into a torrent of fire… but when the pillar faded, the Spirit wasn't even so much as singed, "Figures magecraft like that wouldn't work. Those gems were expensive too… Eil, you get this one down?!"

"A few more seconds!" Eil said, an image starting to form in his mind, one he could call similar to an RPG character sheet, "Class: Rider, Strength C, Endurance E, Agility B, Mana D, Luck E, Noble Phantasm B… True Name… Medusa!"

"Wait you mean like the Gorgon?" Illya yelped, Eil nodding.

"Yeah… but, her parameters are lower than what they _should_ be. This Spirit doesn't have any sense of reason… it's only drive is to destroy." Eil said, "Rin, you just gonna stand there?!"

"Yeah I think I'll just leave this to you two!" Rin called out, Eil and Illya both letting out yelps, "Magecraft may not work, but a blast of pure mana should!"

"Well I've got my own trick to work with here too!" Eil said, raising a hand, glowing circuit lines appearing over his arm, _"Reforge!"_

In an extending flash from the palm of his hand and a swipe as Eil gripped the forming object, the sparking energy bursting from his arm was shorn away to reveal a gleaming sword in his grasp, the blade simple and slender, gleaming with the color of dark steel and a bright, golden hilt wrapped in leather, a blue colored gem inlaid in the pommel of the weapon.

"Durandal Alternative!" Eil said, lifting the sword up at Rider.

"She's really just dumping all of this on us?!" Illya yelped, looking over to see Rin had darted behind the bushes for safety, "She's fast!"

"No time to worry about that! _Bodily Reinforcement!_ " Eil shouted, glowing lines appearing on his arms and legs as she shot in front of Illya, swiping his sword to deflect Rider's thrown weapon, bringing the blade back and blocking the slash that followed it when Rider shot forward, Illya's eyes wide as the sparks from the clashing blades flew past her.

"This is real… this is an actual fight…" Illya murmured, Ruby pulling her away as Eil continued to parry Rider's attacks.

"Eil can handle her at close range, but for us that would be dangerous, so get some distance!" Ruby said, Illya nodding and beginning to move back.

"Listen to what Ruby says Illya! Rider may not be as strong as a regular Servant should be but it doesn't lessen how dangerous she is!" Eil snapped, his dodge to the side leaving a grave on his jacket's left sleeve, sparks flying from the impact area, Eil slashing at Rider as she moved past him, his slash meeting with the chain instead of flesh, driving the tip of his blade into the dirt to lock the Servant in place, "Hah! Can't get away without letting go! But you're probably too dumb to think of that! Illya, blast her now!"

"Uh, ok… how do I do that?!" Illya yelped, Eil struggling a bit as Rider trip to pull herself free.

"Imagine a powerful attack and swing me at her!" Ruby said, Illya looking at the stick as Ruby shifted about.

"A powerful attack?" Illya murmured, letting out a sound as she saw Rider almost free from the lock, "Ah, geez! Do something!"

As Illya swung Ruby, a gleam in the air turned from a small sliver of light into a massive swathe of energy, Eil shooting back and freeing his sword from the chains, Rider moving to block the incoming energy wave, the block not preventing the energy wave from exploding in her face, Eil pumping a fist as the air flashed from the explosion.

"Hells yes!" Eil yelled, Illya wide eyed and slack jawed for a moment.

"W-Wow! What's this?! You emit stuff like this?" Illya yelped, Ruby chuckling.

"Wonderful! A large slash on your first try is impressive!" Ruby said, Rider staggering back up from the crater that had been formed.

"No time to stand around Illya she's not done yet!" Eil said, gripping his sword with both hands, "Don't sit there, we need to attack without giving her a moment to recover!"

"Yeah! What Eil said! Attack without letting her recover!" Rin yelled from off in her hiding spot, Illya giving a hum as Eil sighed.

"She's far away…" Illya murmured.

"And she's acting like a parent at a sports festival… or maybe a girlfriend cheering from the sidelines." Ruby murmured, Illya giving a yelp.

"Did you seriously have to make that comparison?!" Illya snapped.

"Can we maybe focus on what's in front of us right now?!" Eil snapped, "Our opponent isn't human, so don't feel bad about holding back, alright? There's no reason to show any mercy!"

"Sounds kind of brutal, but…" Illya smirked a bit as she took a stance, a glow coming from Ruby's top and forming a sphere of light, "I think I'm starting to get the feel for being a magical girl!"

When Illya fired the bolt at Rider, the Spirit dashed to the side with a smooth motion, Eil shooting forward and slashing, Rider shifting past his attack, the same motion following as Illya fired another shot, Eil shooting back as Illya kept firing, the slow shots being easily dodged by Rider as she kept shifting around.

"Watch your aim!" Eil snapped, Illya yelping as he shot a small glare at her, "And use another attack! She'll keep dodging like that if you keep attacking so slowly. If you can make an opening she can't slide out of, I should be able to get a slash in to take her out, sound good?"

"An opening she can't escape… a scatter attack then!" Illya said.

"Illya-san watch out!" Ruby yelled, Illya stepping past the needle blade as it shot for her, Eil shooting forward as the chain began to retract, and with the slash he made this time, the blow as able to connect, and Illya's eyes went wide as a spray of blade shot from the opened gash on Rider's chest that followed it, Eil shooting back as Rider roared and jabbed at him, skidding to a stop, "Remember Illya-san, she's not human. Even if she bleeds, she's just a being made of prana."

"R-Right!" Illya said, "Blood is still kinda scary to see though…"

"Yeah sadly fights can't be as clean as they are in some anime though." Eil noted, swiping his sword as he stood up, a splash of blood flying from the blade and onto the dirt, a bitter smirk on Eil's face, "Sucks that Spirits are hella more durable than people though. A cut like that would've taken a normal human out of the fight."

"Illya-san, let's try your scatter attack idea!" Ruby said, "If your earlier attack was like a cannon shell, then imagine a whole cluster of little shots assailing a large area all at once!"

"Right, I got it!" Illya nodded, raising Ruby up, a circle forming in front of the staff, a swarm of smaller shots firing en masse from it, Rider's attempt to dodge the first one landing instead with a shot nailing her in the face, Eil smirking as the scatter shots.

"It may have been weak, but if it keeps her from moving, keep it up!" Eil shouted, Illya nodding as she started to concentrate the blasts, Eil shooting into the smoke cloud, "Illya, let up now!"

"Got it!" Illya said, cutting off the blasts, and her eyes widened as a golden glow cut through the dust cloud.

" _Durandal Alternative!"_ Eil's shout followed the glow, the sudden shift in the air blowing aside the dust cloud, revealing his sword to have gained a bright glow to the blade, Eil's roar following the call as be brought the sword around in an underhanded slash, Rider moving away in an attempt to dodge, the wave of light that shot from the blade blasted upwards, Rider letting out a scream as the wave of light blew her right arm away, a fountain of blood spewing from the burnt stump of a limb as the Spirit reeled backwards, skidding to a stop a distance away, Eil clicking his tongue as the glowing lines on his arms and legs faded, the teen falling to a knee, the sword in his hands fading in a drift of light particles.

"Huh? What happened?" Illya murmured, Eil giving a worn-out smirk as he stood up.

"Forgot how much mana actually firing one of those things off uses. Combine that with those reinforcement spells, I've about hit my limit." Eil grumbled, "Can't forget I'm still a normal human after all! Illya, you gotta finish her! That lost arm should slow her down!"

"R-Right!" Illya said, freezing a bit when she turned back to Rider, the "eye" on her mask glowing ominously as her hair began shifting about, a sickly red magic circle beginning to form, "Uh… E-Eil-san? What's happening?!"

"Shit… that's her Noble Phantasm!" Eil shouted, grimacing a bit, _"She's Medusa thought… I have some mana left… if I can form another sword, maybe I use_ that _to finish her off before she can let it off! Tch but… if I use it then I'd be blowing my cover too soon! Mentor did say if I really had to, these are Servants after all but… dammit!"_

"This is bad! Run!" Rin yelled.

"Illya-san, retreat! Grab Eil and get away from her!" Ruby shouted, Illya stumbling back a bit.

"Come on let's go!" Eil snapped, grabbing Illya by the arm and starting to pull her away.

"This way! I'll put up a barrier, it's worth a try!" Rin shouted, Eil nodding as Illya stepped up so she wouldn't be getting dragged along, but, in the moment as Rider began readying the blast, both came to a near halt when they saw someone walking through the mist.

"Class Card, Lancer. Include." A quiet voice reached Eil and Illya's ears, a flash of blue cutting through the mist before shining red, an ominous red spear forming in the hands, the figure dashing past as Eil and Illya got behind Rin's barrier, the spear being twirled into a two handed grip as they neared Rider.

" _Beller-"_ Rider spoke, but the humming sound of the spear moving through the air as it's tip dragged across the ground brought a halt to the spirit.

" _Gáe…"_ the figure said, the spear reader to be thrust forward, _"Bolg!"_

The spear pierced right through the magi circle and into Rider's chest, the glowing circle dimming before bursting into a fading red mist, the Spirit clutching at the spear jutting from her chest, though in a brutal display that got Illya's eyes to go as wide as dinner plates, barbs shot from the spear tip and all across Rider's body before bursting from her flesh like arrows, the Spirit collapsing with a gurgle as a flame like glow moved across her body, and as the Spirit began to fade, the visible form of her Card could be seen, the spear clattering to the ground as the thorns extending from it's tip retreated into the weapon, the Card hovering in place, unmoving.

"What was… that?" Illya murmured, Eil's eyes on the spear, and in his own vision, it was like the weapon was being scanned, the image burning itself into his mind.

"The Gáe Bolg… the spear belonging to the Celtic Hero Cú Chullain. When used, it pierces the target without fail… and destroys them from the inside out with it's cursed barbs. A Spear of Sure Hit and Sure Death." Eil murmured, the new figure picking up the spear from the ground, and in the way her cape fluttered, Eil could compare it to the wings of a butterfly.

"Lancer, Uninclude." The mysterious, dark haired girl murmured, the red spear revering into a magical stick near identical to Ruby aside from the blue color and different side ornamentation, more like a black and blue ribbon than pink feathers, and with a six pointed star in it's center part.

"Sapphire." Eil murmured, the mystery girl walking over to the Card. From this distance at least, by height and the sound of her voice, Eil could gauge she was possibly his and Illya's age, though the cape hid most of her bodily features from behind, but the half-up, dark black hair was clear as day, the occasional drifting strands and the girl's exposed hands showing snowy pale skin as well.

"Class Card Rider, retrieval complete." The mystery girl's voice was nearly emotionless, entirely quiet in tone and flat, with little nuance to indicate any feeling to it, the Card falling into the girl's hand as she moved it near the item.

"Wh-Who?" Illya murmured, putting a hand to her mouth as the image of what the spear had caused flashed to her mind, Eil patting her on the back as the girl heaved, then looking off to the other girl, who'd begun to turn and face them, revealing dark, near-amber colored brown eyes, the cape swishing to reveal the tight fitting outfit of the magical girl form, but, Eil's vision was stuck on those eyes… something in them was cold, almost dead looking, matching the emotionless expression on her pale face.

" _Who the hell is this girl?"_ Eil muttered, then a wry smirk started forming, _"But if she has Sapphire… then Lluvia can't be far behind… ahahehehe… oh this is gonna be good, I can bloody tell!"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Yeah soo… considering I've done some looking into, decided** _ **not**_ **to hold back with the Gáe Bolg. Because that totally isn't traumatizing to watch, oh heck no! So, what is to come with Obviously-Aged-Up-Miyu this go round eh? Hehehehe. We're just getting a move on! Feel free to shoot me a PM if you've got any questions that don't necessarily delve into spoileriffic territory. See ya next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 3: Boy Meets Girlx2**

The silence felt downright deafening as the mystery girl looked back and forth between Eil and Illya for a few moments, the unshifting expression not giving away any kind of thoughts she could be having about the situation… though any tension was undercut by a _particular_ laugh.

"Ooohohohohooo!"

"W-What, what?!" Illya yelped, Eil feeling a twitch as a dark chuckle came from him, a quirk in his lip.

"That stupid laugh!" Rin grumbled.

"The damn hyena!" Eil snapped, the sound of approaching footsteps following the laugh, Lluvia's presence dominating the scene as usual for her.

"How unsightly. That moment's judgement when you determine how to deliver the finishing blow is the key to victor-EGH?!"

However, not even the presence of Lluvia could withstand the washing aura of anger coming from Eil as he shot to her and proceeded to send the young woman sprawling onto the ground via flying kick to the head, Lluvia flinching as the young man's foot stamped in front of her face.

"Hey there Edelfelt, where the hell've you been huh?!" Eil snapped, cracking his knuckles as Lluvia looked up at him, a terrified look coming to the _ojou's_ face, "Haven't seen you since you _ran off and ditched me at the river!"_

"C-Coltheart! How wonderful it is to see you here! Ahaha!" Lluvia shot up in her attempt to defuse the situation, Eil's anger however ceasing to subside… and instead it led to Lluvia getting tackled to the ground, the girl screaming as Eil wrenched her arm behind her back.

"Wonderful?! It's your fault we're in this mess to begin with! You just had to go and start a fight did you?! Couldn't even go five damn minutes! Who the hell is the girl over there anyway?!" Eil snapped an arm out and pointed at the mystery girl, who was now looking at the situation with a tilted head, Eil then yelping when Lluvia shot an arm up, quickly reversing the pin.

"Oh hohoho! Don't forget Coltheart, I'm far more practiced in martial arts than I seem! Holds like that won't keep me…" Lluvia, however, stopped when one of Eil's hands shot up, his palm right in front of her face, a dark splotch forming on his palm, "Uh oh…"

 _ **BANG!**_

With a loud crack almost like a gunshot, the gandr was fired directly into Lluvia's face, the blow sending the girl flying back in a comical fashion, Eil standing up and brushing himself off as Lluvia stared at the sky in a daze.

"Lucky you I'm low on mana. I focused more on force than damage with that." Eil muttered, rolling the arm that had been pinned, then pointing at the mystery girl again, "You! Who the hell are you?!"

"I serve Lluvia-nee-san." The girl said, the other three having similar shocked looks.

"NEE-SAN!?" Illya yelped.

"The hyena has a sister?!" Eil shouted.

"That's way too out of left field!" Rin yelped, Lluvia getting up and laughing again, her hand rising near her chin.

"Don't you know the Edelfelt's are the only magus family able to have more than one heir safely?" Lluvia said, and one could notice Rin appear to take particular offence to that statement from the look on her face, "This girl is my lovely younger sister, Miyu. She's been living here in Fuyuki for quite some time, and while she is a sheltered girl, she's _very_ reliable! How lucky for me Sapphire find her!"

"You weren't supposed to lose Sapphire in the first place!" Eil snapped, pointing to the stick in Miyu's hand, "Heck running off like you did… hah, you're lucky I'm worn out!"

"Uuh… ahem. I admit, running off like that was faulty of me. _But,_ in my defense it was to attempt to reclaim Sapphire!" Lluvia said, Eil cracking his knuckles again, Lluvia flinching again. "It's simply luck she found my sister!"

" _What? What, what, what?! How are they sisters?! That girl is a Japanese Beauty type… how are they related?!"_ Illya thought, looking back and forth between Miyu and Lluvia, Eil taking in a breath and letting it out in a long sigh, his arms lowering and relaxing.

"Well while I'd _love_ to say, drop kick you into next week…" Eil's remark got Lluvia to flinch again, then everyone looked when he pointed upwards, "We may wanna get outta here. The distortion is starting to collapse."

On cue with Eil's statement, the ground itself shook as cracks began spreading all across the "barrier" around the area, Illya whipping her head around.

"What's happening this time?!" Illya yelped.

"With the Card retrieved, it looks like the Mirror World is about to close." Ruby explained, "We should do what Eil says and get out of here."

"Y-Yeah." Illya nodded, looking to where was standing between Rin and Lluvia as he kept them from going at another, the two older girl's snapping almost incoherent.

"Come on you two enough!" Eil snapped.

"Well if she was here the entire time why the hell didn't she jump in sooner?!" Rin snapped, Lluvia chuckling.

"I was waiting for the decisive moment! You were the one who ran when you had an opening!" Lluvia said, Eil sighing and proceeding to slam Rin and Lluvia's heads together, the two girls flopping onto the ground.

"Seriously, I turn around for two seconds and you start fighting?! We need to go, save your stupid cat fight for later!" Eil snapped, stamping a foot down.

"Ah this is no good. Even with him around they still bicker." Ruby murmured, Illya looking at the stick with a look on.

"Why are you so calm right now?! Let's hurry and get out of here!" Illya said, and as she spoke, Miyu moved into a position just between the magus trio and Illya.

"Sapphire..." Miyu murmured.

"Yes, Master." The calm voice came from the stick in the girl's hand, a glowing circle beginning to move out, "Eliminating imaginary axis from instrumental variables. Central coordinates established. Establishing Mirror Road within a six-meter radius. Returning to normal world."

In a flash of light as the magic circle expanded, the space around the group returned to normal, Illya looking around, seeing that the "barrier" as gone, the moonlight filtering past the sparse clouds in the sky, Eil lifting Rin and Lluvia to their feet.

"W-We're back?" Illya asked.

"Yep, nice job." Ruby answered, "That's all for tonight."

"Thank goodness." Illya murmured, sinking to the ground, and she flinched when she felt a pat on her head, looking up to see Eil moving his hand.

"Nice job! For a rookie magic user, you're pretty strong, so I'm impressed. Practice some more and maybe you'd even be able to solo a Servant!" Eil mused, flicking a thumb across the tip of his nose as he chuckled, Illya's face popping to a shade of scarlet with a puff of steam.

"Th-Thanks… uh…" Illya murmured, both then looking over at Miyu as the girl's cold eyes looked between them, though attention turned when the crashing sound of Rin and Lluvia crashing together hit, Eil going from the casual grin to a darkly irked expression.

"So, "sister" huh? Why does she have Sapphire?!" Rin snapped, Lluvia scoffing.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Lluvia replied.

"Don't tell me you…" Rin murmured, Lluvia giving a scoff again… before the mutual lock broke off, Lluvia biting down on a handkerchief as she yanked at it in shuddering frustration.

"Yes, that's right… I chased Sapphire, but she started spouting 'This is my Master' and other nonsense! I mean sure lucky me she picked my little sister but it's so frustrating! NHAAAA!" Lluvia exclaimed, Rin and Eil both showing flat looks.

"Right, I understand… the same thing basically happened to me." Rin stated, Eil pincing the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe you should've thought about this sooner… seriously what kind of problem do you two _have_ with each other? You're decent people otherwise." Eil grumbled, Lluvia then shooting around and jabbing a finger at Rin.

"Regardless, despite these irregularities I shall still be the victor!" Lluvia snapped, Eil cracking his knuckles as he sighed again.

"This, is not, _a competition!"_ Eil snapped, his fist slamming into the back of Lluvia's head, "Remember we're _in_ this mess because _you_ wouldn't let a misfire slide as the accident it was! I am _not_ letting this chance at redemption for what ensued after slip by, because I've been dragged into this boat of yours! If we go down we're going down together, and I am _not_ letting this ship sink!"

"That's one way to put it." Rin murmured, flinching as she noticed the dark aura around Eil.

"Besides if we fuck this up then Mentor is liable to punish me for it. Last time he did because of damages I caused I got dropped into some whack alternate dimension for a week." Eil muttered, his tone almost robotic, "If it's a second strike what comes next could be even _worse_ than that…"

"Worse then what?!" Illya yelped, flinching herself from the aura of dread hanging over Eil as his head lolled to the side a bit, "What kind of trauma is that bad?!"

"Ugh, whatever." Lluvia muttered, rubbing the now throbbing back of her head, "Let's go, Miyu."

As Lluvia began to walk off with Miyu silently following behind her, Eil snapped out of whatever funk he was in, making Illya flinch once more, tapping a closed hand into the palm of the other.

"Ah, right!" Eil said, turning to the leaving Lluvia, who was laughing in her signature fashion, "Oi, Edelfelt, I'm gonna be holding onto the Rider Card for a bit, cool?"

"Huh?" Lluvia stopped dead in her tracks as Eil spoke, turning to see that the boy had produced the very Card, Eil waving it about a bit as he snickered, a devious smirk on his face, Lluvia then patting herself down, though it begged the question of where exactly she could _possibly_ have pockets on the dress she was wearing, "H-How did you get that?! I was sure I…"

"Eh I'm pretty good at sleight of hand." Eil remarked, pocketing the Card, "Don't worry I'll return it, I just need it for something I've gotta do later."

"What could you possibly need it for?!" Lluvia snaped, Eil putting a finger to his lips.

"Sorry, but I can't tell ya' that. Orders from the old man." Eil stated, Lluvia turning with a huff, now stalking off instead, Rin sighing as Lluvia and Miyu vanished from sight.

"That idiot. What does she think Card retrieval is about?" Rin said, walking over to Illya, holding out a hand, "Anyway, good work today. You were a big help."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Illya murmured, taking the offered hand and pull upwards.

"We'll be counting on you again." Rin said, Illya flinching.

"Eh?! Do you mean I have to do this again?!" Illya yelped.

"There are four more of the things around town. So, well, sorry, but we're still gonna need your help for a while longer." Eil said, clapping his hands together in an apologetic gesture, one of Illya's eyes twitching.

"Wh-Wh… WHAT?!"

* * *

"So, this is it huh?" Eil gave a hum as her looked up at the sterling white spire of the church in front of him, the grounds of the location a straight path of white stone that was well kept with greenery boarding the path to the church itself, Eil looking at a slip of paper in his hand and then back at the grand building, "Gotta say, the old man is damn good at renditions."

Eil pocketed the paper and stepped towards the main door, pushing the large wooden barriers open, a groaning creak coming from the hinges as he did, echoing through the main chamber, Eil's footsteps audible as he looked through the pews around him, stopping in the center of the abbey as the doors loudly shut behind him, turning back and looking at the preachers podium standing above everything else, a scoff coming from the young man.

"I always found religion to be kinda BS, but, to each their own I suppose." Eil mused, giving a small sigh, "Anyone here? I'm Eil Coltheart, from the Mage's Association! I'm here on behalf of the Great Father, Kischur Zelretch, on the mission regarding the Class Cards here in Fuyuki. Is the overseer in or am I just talking to thin air?"

After a moment of silence, the next thing Eil knew, something snared him from the legs and whipped him upside down, leaving him hanging in the air, Eil looking down (up?) and seeing his legs and part of his torso bound by a red cloth that continued up into the ceiling above seemingly without end, the young man raising a brow when his attempt to pull it free resulted in more snaring his arm.

"The hell is this?!" Eil snapped, and he looked around when he heard footsteps.

"You just said some dangerous things to no one at all. What if I had been someone else hmm?"

The voice was a girl's, deadpan yet oddly teasing in tone. Eil managed to crane his neck to find the owner, a girl with light grey hair and golden eyes who couldn't have been much older than him, the slender girl garbed in a priest's robes, and he could see bandages wrapped around her left hand moving up into the sleeve of the robe.

"I take it you're the Church's representative?" Eil asked, the girl nodding, "Well I already introduced myself soo…"

"Caren. Caren Ortensia." The priestess answered, Eil nodding, "Didn't expect someone like _you_ to show up… hmm… your eyes look like gem stones."

"Okay that's just an odd comment to make."

"Like lapis lazuli… maybe I should pluck them out?"

"And that's just creepy!"

"I'm teasing you." Caren's tone hadn't even shifted from the deadpan tone as she spoke, Eil giving her a flat look in response. "But to answer your question, yes. I'm here from the Church in order to observe Fuyuki and see what effects the Cards are having on the Ley Lines. They've been here for quite some time as it is."

"Yeah I read the reports." Eil muttered, wriggling about, "The hell is this stupid cloth?!"

"The Shroud of Magdalene. It binds men, but don't worry, so long as it binds you, you can't be harmed." Caren stated, tapping Eil on the forehead.

"Church folks are you bloody sacrament items… look can you just unbind me? I don't wanna chat while hanging upside down." Eil remarked, Caren tilting her head.

"Oh? I thought people could think better with more blood moving to their head.

"Haha, very funny. Just freaking unbind me!"

"Okay then."

 _THUD_

With a snap of Caren's fingers, the cloth binding Eil retreated and dropped him on the floor like a sack of potatoes, the boy sprawling out after a moment and staring at the ceiling, Caren moving into his view.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Eil muttered, Caren just shrugging, the girl moving back as he stood up, "So?"

"You're here about the Cards right? I was told to expect someone soon, but aren't you here rather fast? By scheduling, you would've arrived two days ago." Caren stated, Eil nodding.

"Yeah but we like to work fast. We got the first Cards yesterday: Rider." Eil said, producing the Card and handing it to the priestess, who turned it over a few times, "Something I figured out when I used Identification on the Servant is that the ones formed from these Cards have lower parameters than they would otherwise, likely due to a loss of reasoning. The spirit was blackened, though I'm sure that was in the reports about Archer and Lancer."

"Interesting." Caren hummed, "Your family always has been good at that sort of thing. No wonder the Great Father sent you along… but tell me, what's the son of heretics doing helping the Association?"

"Who was it who said not to say dangerous things out loud?" Eil said, a growl to his tone as his brow twitched a bit, Caren just humming as she handed the Card back.

"Right right. Well, I don't have much to say on the matter." Caren said, sitting down in one of the pews, "All that matters to me is that you magi do the job so the leylines can be fixed… it's rather bothersome dealing with the prickling those cards cause."

"Prickling?" Eil murmured, his eyes drifting to the visible bandages on Caren's hand, though he didn't get an answer to the question, "So, you really don't have anything huh?"

"I am curious as to what's left at least, so why not tell me that?" Caren suggested, Eil holding up four fingers.

"We got four left. Caster, Assassin, Saber, and Berserker. We don't know which Servant will show up at which spot, but we do have locations narrowed down."

"Ohh?"

"Ryudouji Temple, the Fuyuki Bridge, an old mansion in the old town, and deep in the forest outside of town."

"That last one sounds bothersome. Those woods are thick." Caren remarked, "But, you magi are good at finding things, so I doubt you'll have a hard time. This is the city where the Grail Wars took place… how convenient for you these Cards with Servants in them latched to spots where leylines run."

"Yeah but that's also part of the problem." Eil muttered, Caren just humming again, "So I take it we're done huh?"

"Yes. Just stop by whenever you get another Card as agreed upon." Caren remarked, then glancing at Eil, "Also, mind telling me why you arrived so early? It's bothersome to have to get up so soon for a meeting out of the blue."

"Hehe, well, I'd be late for school otherwise."

* * *

"So… Class 1-1… heh, how typical." Eil gave a snicker as he looked at the placard above the doorway for the classroom, his school bag hefted over his shoulder, the brown uniform for the school worn rather casually by him, the open blazer showing off the print t-shirt beneath it while the sleeves were pulled up. The teacher had entered the class a few moments ago… and there was another thought in his mind, _"This situation is hella cliché…"_

"Hm?" And furthering the idea in his mind to the level of cliché that was about this situation, who else to appear before him but Miyu, he and the quiet girl having run into each other in the staff room, and as fate would have it, they were being put into the same class.

Not to mention he'd snuck a peak at the class roster and knew Illya happened to be in this class, so added levels.

"This is sudden, but ta-dah! Allow me to introduce a pair of transfer students!" A loud female voice boomed out past the doorway, Eil rolling his eyes as he gave a chuckle to it, "Now, come in both of you!"

"A'ight!" Eil said, throwing the door opening, and the entire class ooh'd and ahh'd as he and Miyu entered the room.

"A hot foreign guy!"

"And a Japanese beauty!"

"Our class just got even luckier!"

"Yeah, first Einzbern and Matou, now these two?"

"EH?! Wait Eil you're in my class?!" The teacher however, immediately gasped, Eil looking over to the short haired young woman with a flat expression.

"Taiga, I called you to mention this days ago! Why're you actin' shocked?" Eil muttered, Taiga putting a hand behind her head.

"Well I didn't think you'd wind up in _my_ class when you said that!" Taiga said, Eil sighing, but showing an amused smirk.

"Yeah well seems this class has the vacancy, so here I am!" Eil remarked… and now the entire class was staring at him in stunned silence.

" _He's so frank with the teacher!"_ was the shocked thought of the 28 students present.

"Ahem, right. Well, would you two please introduced yourselves?" Taiga asked, already writing names on the board, "Hmm? How would I spell "Coltheart" again… ah!"

"Right then." Eil said, giving a chuckle, "Name's Eil Coltheart, moving here to Fuyuki from studying abroad in England."

"I'm Miyu Edelfelt." Miyu curtly stated, Taiga turning back to the class as they started murmuring amongst themselves, more notably the girls about Eil.

"As Eil said, he was studying abroad in England until recently, and he's here for familial reasons. Miyu-chan on the other hand, has returned to Japan from Finland." Taiga said, and Eil produced a crooked little grin.

" _Oh if only Taiga knew the truth behind this one."_ Eil thought, shaking his head a bit.

"I'm sure there's a lot they may not understand, so help out everyone!" Taiga stated, and Eil's eyes trailed across the class a bit, his gaze stopping when his eyes fell to Illya, who was staring at him and Miyu with an expression that could only be described as incredulous. "Now for your seats… Ah! Miyu-chan, take the seat behind Illya-chan, and Eil, behind Sakura-chan right next to her!"

"All right." Miyu nodded, Eil just nodding, the two weaving their way to the desks, Illya following the duo with her eyes the entire time, flinching a bit when Eil flashed her a look, Illya looking forward as the two sat down, Eil already taking the opportunity to lean back in his chair more than he should have been.

"Then for first period… huh?! I forgot the printouts!" Taiga yelped, Eil bringing a hand to his face as he silently chuckled, "Ehehehe… everyone, be good kids and study on your own for a bit…"

"Well she just doesn't change, does she?" Eil mused, snickering as Taiga shot out of the room, sitting more properly as he leaned on a hand, and he looked forward when he heard a giggle, his eyes locking on a curtain of dark purple hair in front of him.

"Hehehe, you talk like you know Fujimura-sensei really well." The girl said, turning around and revealing eyes the same color as her hair, Eil just chuckling again.

"Well, my family is actually old friends with the Fujimuras. I've actually known Taiga since I was little." Eil said, taking a moment, "And, well, again, Eil Coltheart's the name. Nice to meet you… uh…"

"Matou. Matou Sakura." The girl said, a pleasant smile showing on her face, Illya glancing back over her shoulder, "If you or Edelfelt-san have any questions, feel free to ask me okay? I am class rep after all!"

"Hehe, sure, I'll keep that in mind." Eil said, Miyu only giving a nod, and Illya visibly sighed, while Sakura turned to the pale haired girl, others already starting to crowd around Eil and Miyu to chat.

"This is quite the turn, huh Illya?" Sakura asked, Illya nodding.

"Yeah, it is." Illya asked, standing up, "Sorry, but I gotta use the bathroom!"

"Don't take too long. You need to beat Fujimura-sensei." Sakura stated, Illya just giving a wave as she left the room, Eil looking away from the boys he was talking too and trailing Illya out.

"Hmm… hey, I'll answer questions later, I gotta go do something." Eil said, shooting up and leaving through the other door, spotting Illya leaning on the edge of the open window, "Well you were quick to leave."

"EH?!" Illya yelped as Eil spoke, the young man snickering, Illya then sighing.

"It was quite the classic development!" Ruby said, appearing from within the fluff of Illya's hair, "Nice to see you Eil!"

"A mysterious transfer student appears… in this case, two." Illya remarked, Eil looking to the side as he put a hand behind his head.

"That's a very common pattern in magical girl shows, right?" Another, more polite and quiet voice spoke, the head of the other staff, Sapphire, floating up from behind Eil, Illya yelping, "Ah, good day to you, Master Eil."

"Nice to see you too Sapphire." Eil said, the item giving a bow to him.

"Ah Sapphire-chan!" Ruby said, Sapphire giving a little wave.

"Haven't seen you since last night, Nee-san." Sapphire said, Illya giving a blank expression of confusion, Eil sighing.

"Let's go to the roof, I can explain up there." Eil stated, Illya only nodding.

* * *

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sapphire."

"This is my new Master, Illya-san!"

The two sticks motioned at each other as the spoke, Illya near the fence of the rooftop while Eil stood near Sapphire, or perhaps the other way around.

"That is all correct. Thank you for looking after my older sister, Illya-sama." Sapphire said, bowing to Illya, the pale-haired girl returning the gesture, Eil noticing her uniform's shirt barely seemed like it was able to contain her chest.

"Oh, um, same here." Illya said, Eil gesturing to the two sticks as Ruby floated over, Illya standing straight.

"Sapphire and Ruby here are sisters, Mystic Codes, magical devices, made by the same person. Their "father" so to speak, is my mentor, Kischur Zelretch. He's pretty famous among us mages, one of the only people alive capable of using True Magic." Eil explained, Illya nodding, "Their power comes from an application of it, so that's where those abilities on par with a Heroic Spirit come from."

"Wow, so there's two? That's cool!" Illya said.

"Ah, so Sapphire-chan?" Ruby said.

"Miyu-sama, right?" Sapphire said, Ruby nodding. "She is my new Master. I met her after you and I were separated."

"I knew it! Way to go Sapphire-chan, you found yourself a cute one! A Japanese beauty who curves out in all the right places, with an air for mystique and quiescence! Hard to believe she's related to that Edelfelt hag." Ruby said, Eil making a point to grab the stick in a death hold.

"To be totally honest, if I had known Master Eil was around at the time, I very likely would have gone to him." Sapphire stated, Ruby just flitting around a bit, "As father's student, I consider him my secondary Master. Of course though, I don't regret choosing Miyu-sama to wield me, and I mean no offense by that."

"None taken." Eil said, releasing Ruby, "So as you can see Illya, I kinda like _this one,"_ he pointed to Sapphire, "better than this one." He gripped Ruby again to make the point, Illya slowly nodding.

"Yeah I can tell." Illya remarked, "But, uh, Eil, what are you doing here? You and the others are only here for as long as it takes to get the Cards, right?"

"Well, sort of." Eil said, "Our time limit to gather the Cards is two weeks before the Association tries to interfere again, at least, that's what our supervisor, Lord El Melloi II, said. The thing is though, I was planning to do some self-studying here in Fuyuki for a while now. Due to the abundance of leylines going across the various areas of the town, it'd be perfect for a magus like me to sharpen his thaumaturgical skills with little disturbance. Mentor is rather reasonable, so he figured it'd be a good help due to my uh… practice methods. Convenience landed that this case started up, so the old man had me tag along as an overseer to make sure the job would get done in time."

"Right right… so just to clarify I have no idea who and what you're talking." Illya said, Eil nodding.

"Right, sorry. Well, to be short, with leylines, since you'd need to know, are what you could call the planet's "veins", so to speak. They carry natural prana through the Earth and it filters into the air as well depending on how thick the cluster is. Fuyuki in particular has several masses of leylines throughout it's entirety, and a long time ago, this place was used for a lot of Rituals. The odds are the Cards appeared here because of those leylines, but we don't know the reason yet."

"Oh I get it. So, basically, you're saying the cards latched to these leylines because it's like plugging in a phone to it's charger! With a direct source of this prana stuff, they could gather energy easily, right?" Illya asked, Eil nodding, showing a rather impressed look.

"That's… actually pretty accurate, nice." Eil remarked, Illya chuckling as she shuffled about a bit, Eil giving a small grin of amusement, "But then, the thing is, due to the massive amount of energy forming into a Servant requires, the Cards are also messing with the leylines. Think of it like this: A power generator only has so many outputs. A Card is basically like trying to plug five output cables into a three-output generator. It draws on more power than can be supplied, so it wears on the generator."

"Ohh! Which means so long as the Cards are around, then the leylines will lose power, and that would cause issues with a lot of things, wouldn't it?" Illya remarked, Eil again looking impressed by her quick comprehension of things.

"Yeah, pretty much." Eil remarked, and he couldn't _quite_ explain the fuzzy feeling in his chest. Maybe this is what teachers felt at having students who actually understood what they taught? "It's why Rin said the Cards have the potential to destroy a city. Damage the leylines enough, and the environment itself will be effected in ways that could be irreparable."

"I get it… so, sort of like bombs, but maybe more like some kind of waste spillage that pollutes water." Illya remarked, Eil nodding to the analogy she made.

"Excellent explanation, Master." Sapphire said, Eil chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey hey, Sapphire-chan, Miyu-san can use the Cards power already, so that means she's also talented!" Ruby spoke up, Eil giving the stick a look for changing the subject without a care.

"Yes, I was surprised as well. I never imagined she'd master them so easily." Sapphire said.

"Hey, Ruby, what do you mean by the Cards' power?" Illya asked, Eil and the sticks looking at each other, Sapphire and Eil specifically looking at Ruby.

"Eh? Nee-san, have you not explained it to Illya-san?" Sapphire asked, Ruby chuckling.

"By that reaction, so, she didn't." Eil said, Sapphire sighing.

"You never change, do you Nee-san?"

"Oh! Seems I forgot that little detail!" Ruby said, turning to Illya, "Having made it through our first battle, I guess I'll tell her. Now, where shall I start?"

"I guess from the beginning." Illya said.

"Okay! Well, first off, as Eil explained to you the other night, the Cards house the power of spirits called Heroic Spirits." Ruby said, Illya nodding, "Well, this all started about five years ago. At first, the oddities were completely negligible, not a problem to be seen from these anomalies, but, a close eye was kept on them. And then, about two weeks ago, the Mage's Associaiton observed some very odd distortions of od here in Fuyuki, far stronger than the ones they had found before."

"Od is a type of mana." Eil said, "Basically, if mana is found in the air seeping from leylines, od is mana that occurs naturally within people, what you'd call the lifeforce. Most magi cast spells by using od as the igniter, and mana as the fuel, though less intensive spells tend to be entirely cast with od."

"That makes sense." Illya replied. "So a bunch of od appearing outside of the people would be strange."

"Yes." Ruby said, "And what the Association found when they investigated these distortions, was the existence of the Class Cards."

"The Class Cards lay at the source of these distortions." Sapphire stated, "Also, the number of distortions detected by the Association, were numbered at seven."

"And Eil-san said you already had two, and we got one last night… so that means there's four of these Cards left." Illya said, "So, that means the first two were retrieved by, what was it, the Mage's Association, before Eil-san's teacher sent you here to get the rest."

"Correct." Sapphire confirmed, "The Association analyzed the two Cards they retrieved, however, the Cards were created with highly advanced thaumaturgical principles, so they could barely analyze their composition at all."

"And the only reason I was able to analyze Rider's parameters last night as because she was manifested." Eil said, pointing to an eye, "My family developed an ocular magecraft called _Identification_ ages ago, and we can use it to measure certain things, like the power of another magus, or in this case, the parameters, class, and True Name of a Servant. It was based on a Skill some Servants possess, called _True Name Discernment."_

"And the Cards can somehow draw out the power of those Heroic Spirits!" Ruby stated.

"Heroic Spirits… Eil-san said they were the heroes of legends, right?" Illya said, Eil nodding.

"To be more precise, Heroic Spirits are what humanity _believes_ the heroes to be. History itself tends to be inaccurate, so things we _believe_ about those Heroes may in fact be incorrect to how they were in life, if they truly existed. Heroic Spirits are easily influenced by the impressions of the people of their homeland and the World in general, so you could easily find a Heroic Spirit who's able to recall details of his life that don't match up to his state as a Servant, or traits that manifested because of their close association to something they accomplished." Eil explained, Illya humming again, then snapping.

"So it's kind of like character growth in an old tabletop RPG, where some actions you take change aspects of your character!" Illya said, Eil's eyes going a bit wide.

"Wow, nice reference. Little tidbit actually, but when I use _Identification,_ the image I have forms as something akin to an RPG character stat sheet." Eil said, Illya looking wowed at that statement.

"Illya-san, do you remember the card Eil showed you the other night?" Ruby asked, Illya nodding.

"Yeah, it was the Archer Card, if I remember correctly." Illya said.

"Last night, Miyu-sama used the Lancer Card." Said Sapphire.

"See, Heroic Spirits can fit into a variety of Classes, which as you could guess, are near exactly like what you'd see in an RPG." Eil said, Illya nodding, "The Classes are Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. It's theorized there are possible "Extra" Classes that exist as well, but in all known attempts at summoning Heroic Spirits up to the modern day, none of these theoretical "Extra" Classes have been called upon, at least, that we're aware of."

"So it's like trying to find out about secret classes, but nobody has been able to find them due to bad luck." Illya remarked, again, getting a nod from Eil.

"I guess you could say that." Eil mused, "Depending on Class, a Heroic Spirit's abilities, appearance, and weapon can all be effected. Each one also wields at least one extremely powerful weapon or ability called a Noble Phantasm, a crystallization of the pinnacle of their power, and they're capable of inducing power and producing Miracles beyond what any modern magic system could replicate."

"And we Kaleidosticks can access the Throne of Heroes via the Class Cards, allowing us to materialize their Noble Phantasms for a brief period." Sapphire said, Ruby flitting over into Illya's face.

"It's amazing right? Amazing! Totally amazing!" Ruby said, yelping as she was grabbed by Eil again.

"Illya-san, I'm sure you've already realized this." Sapphire said, "But last night's enemy was one of those Heroic Spirits."

"Yeah. Eil-san said her Class was… Rider, and her name was Medusa, like the Gorgon from Greek legends." Illya remarked, Eil nodding.

"A form of her at least. Like I said, Class can easily determine the appearance or even state of a Servant. Many Servants have variations of themselves coming from different points in their life that closely tie them to other parts of their legend, or in some cases, versions that, on a technical level, shouldn't even exist."

"Yeah, yeah that makes sense." Ilya said, putting a hand on her chin. "But, wait, you said something was different."

"Yeah. One perk of _Identification_ is that it also tells me the "proper" state of a Servant. The ones manifested through the Cards are those technically impossible-to-exist variants I mentioned. The Class could be correct, their abilities and Noble Phantasm could be similar, but the Spirit we fought wasn't the "proper" form of Rider." Eil said, Illya nodding again.

"Not to mention it seemed devoid of any kind of reason." Ruby added.

"And so we have to defeat the materializations of these Heroic Spirits in order to retrieve the Cards." Sapphire said.

"And that's why we have these two here." Eil said, gesturing to the sticks, "A normal magus typically wouldn't have a chance against a Heroic Spirit, outside of ones maybe in the Caster or Assassin class due to them typically having lower physical parameters, and magi tend to be well trained physically in the event we can't cast spells. As you saw with me, I use physical enhancements to increase my strength, speed, and reflexes to be near-even to a Servant, but I can't maintain it for long, especially if I fire off a Noble Phantasm replicated through _Creation._ But, with these two here, the one using them gains abilities near-equal to a Heroic Spirit."

"We will support you to the fullest of our abilities." Sapphire said, "Please, continue to work with Miyu-sama to retrieve the Car-"

"Sapphire."

The cold tone got the lot to turn, Miyu standing at the doorway leading back down.

"Miyu-sama." Sapphire murmured.

"Sapphire, don't go out too often." Miyu said.

"My apologies, but, do not worry Miyu-sama. So long as Master Eil is here, I'm perfectly safe." Sapphire said, but drifting back to Miyu either way, "I did however, want to greet Illya-san, and it was nice to chat with my father's student as well."

"You honestly trust him?" Miyu said, Sapphire nodding.

"Of course. As said, he is the student of my and Ruby's father. To not trust him would be like not putting trust in my creator." Sapphire said, Miyu shifting her gaze from Eil to Illya.

"U-Um…" Illya murmured.

"Well, this is fine." Miyu murmured, taking a short bow for a moment, "Lluvia-nee-san asked that while I'm here, I go about harassing you, but, I don't feel the need for that."

"Harass me?! For what?!" Illya yelped, Eil giving a flat look, a small bit of danger hanging near him as the fingers on a hand curled up.

"She was likely simply angry with Coltheart for taking the Rider Class Card. It's none of my business, I just want to collect the Cards." Miyu said, bowing again, "Have a good day."

"Eh… she's polite but something about that just felt really cold." Illya remarked, the door shutting as Miyu left.

"She's kind of hard to talk to, isn't she?" Ruby quipped, Eil sighing.

"Man I'm gonna have to have a talk with Edelfelt later today." Eil grumbled, folding his arms, "Well the rest of today is going to be interesting, that's a definite."

"Y-Yeah…" Illya said. "Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?"

"A question as old as time Illya, a question as old as time."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And that's this one! Man infodumps are always a slog to write, I swear to Buddha. But, what must be done must be done! Onwards I say, to the next battle… of sorts. Is school antics a kind of battle? Maybe it counts.**


	4. Chapter 4

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 4: Normal?**

The scraping sound of chalk on the whiteboard was all that met the attentive silence of the classroom as Taiga jotted down a math equation from the textbook in her hands.

"Okay, let's have someone solve this problem!" Taiga said, scanning the listening students, "Let's see… Tatsuko-chan!"

"zzzZZZzzz… I'm no good at Japanese…"

"Tatsuko! We're doing math right now!" Taiga snapped, Eil's eyes tracing to the snoozing student who'd been called out… who's head promptly fell flat onto her desk, Taiga sighing, "Forget it… Then, Miyu-chan!"

"Yes." Miyu answered, stepping up to the board and taking the chalk from Taiga, the girl scanning the problem before her for a moment before. And as she worked, Taiga's look went from normal, to shocked, to downright terrified as Miyu's arm started moving over the _entire_ board, not just a small bit of it, the class in stuck silence at what they were seeing… while Eil and Illya both felt an eye twitch.

"Hey, ah, Miyu-chan?' Taiga murmured, Miyu stopping her progress and looking to the teacher.

"Yes?"

"Not "Yes"… there wasn't any need to solve the problem that way!" Taiga said, addressing the complicated looking mess of variables, integers, and other mathematical symbols a 10th grade math student shouldn't have been applying to a basic geometry question. "You don't need to use these equations and integers!"

"Hmm?" Miyu however, only looked confused, her head tilting a bit.

"No, don't look at me in confusion…" Taiga whined, Eil feeling a quirk in his lip.

" _This girl was raised by the Edelfelts so I can imagine she had a good education behind closed doors… but did none of them teach her common sense?!"_

* * *

"Everyone, draw freely and vividly!"

"Okay!"

The period had changed to art class, and Eil have a hum as the sound of pencils scratching on paper, brushes sliding against surfaces, and other such accompanying ambiance filled the room, the boy giving a breath as he started forming an image in his head, and once he had, his hands started moving.

Illya was able to hear the rapid changing of items from just behind her, glancing back to see Eil's hand rapidly moving across the page in front of him while the other hand swapped out whatever item he was using at the moment, other students starting to crowd around as the minutes passed, Taiga shooting over once the commotion reached her, just as Eil finished as it happened.

"What's all this about over here?" Taiga asked, her eyes going wide to see what Eil had made, the boy casually spinning a rather shorn down pencil in one hand, "E-Eil, what's this?!"

"Just a view I found when on a trip in France." Eil remarked, holding up the _incredibly_ detailed picture which looked nearly photographic in how he'd rendered it, Eil then humming as he looked at it, "I think I missed a few details though…. Huh."

"Eil I know I said vividly but that's… that's too much!" Taiga remarked, Eil tilting his head.

"Well I kinda just drew off the top of my head." Eil said.

" _That was off the top of his head?!"_ Illya thought, and she was sure that was also what the _rest_ of the class was thinking as they had similar reactions… then there was the class spotting Miyu's own creation. When Illya craned her head back to see it, her eyes widened again, _"She drew a Picasso style image?!"_

"What is this?" Taiga murmured, her shock now doubled as she held the other drawing.

"You said to draw freely, so I broke apart shape and abandoned a single-point perspective." Miyu answered, Taiga slamming the notebook down.

"That's too freely!" Taiga shouted, "I mean, Cubism isn't even in this year's curriculum! Much less hyper realism to boot!"

"Don't heap me into this!" Eil snapped.

"Hmm?" And again Miyu only gave Taiga confused look in response to what Taiga was saying.

"No, don't look at me in confusion, again!" Taiga said.

" _Seriously what did they teach her before she ended up here?"_ Eil thought, looking back to his own drawing, "Ah, I didn't miss anything, it's just like I remember after all."

"SAY WHAT?!"

* * *

"Today we're going to focus on cooking!" Taiga declared, the class now having moved to the home ec. room. "Do your best to make delicious Salisbury steaks!"

"Heh, pretty simple thing for a bunch of high schoolers isn't it?" Eil remarked, Sakura, who he'd been paired up with for the lesson, chuckling.

"We did this way back during elementary too. It's easy enough though." Sakura said, tightening the apron she had on, "Coltheart-san, do you do a lot of cooking?"

"Eh, can't really say I do." Eil remarked, rubbing the back of his head, Sakura giggling a bit.

"Well that's fine. I've had a good teacher, so I'll show you the ropes okay?" Sakura said, Eil nodding, though attention turned when again, the wowed sounds of other students reached their ears, Eil peering over to the source, where no surprise, Miyu was, "What now?"

"Wow, incredible! That looks great!"

"W-What is this?!" Taiga seemed on the edge of things as she saw what could only be called a gourmet spread right in front of her, Miyu's face as stoic as usual.

"Did I make a mistake?" The girl asked, Taiga looking absolutely disparaged now.

"We don't do such intricate cooking in high school! How did you do this with only a frying pan?!"

"Hmm?"

"Damn it, I can't take it!" Taiga shouted, then the slurping sounds reached her as the girl partnered with Miyu was already downing a bowl of food, "Nanaki-chan?!"

"Seconds!" The girl said, Taiga yelping.

"Wait! Why are you already eating?! Good grief, all of you…" Taiga cutting a piece of the main dish off and jabbing it with her fork, chomping down on the bit of meat… and her face instantly went from irritated to delighted, "It's great!"

 _ **KABOOOM!**_

"What the hell?!" Taiga yelped, all eyes turning to the source of the noise, seeing a rather shocked Sakura staring at a soot covered Eil, the boy giving a cough that produced a puff of smoke as he opened his eyes, the charred remains of… _something_ in the frying pan in front of him. "What happened?!"

"It exploded." Eil said.

"How?!"

"I don't know!"

"Coltheart-san, are you alright?" Sakura asked, Eil nodding as he used a towel to wipe off his face, and elsewhere, Illya was stuck at the level of contrast she was seeing.

"Yeah I'm fine." Eil said, then noticing the look Taiga was giving him, "What?"

"From now on, you and Miyu-chan will be paired together for cooking classes!" Taiga said, Eil raising a brow. "If someone as skilled as her and someone as bad as you pair up, it should even out to something normal!"

"I don't think it…"

"Always! From now on!"

"Works like that…"

" _So it's cooking he falls flat in, but Miyu is seemingly perfect… what a world."_ Illya thought.

* * *

The dull evening air was dead quiet in the park near the high school, Illya looking rather glum as she rocked back and forth on one of the benches, Eil standing nearby on a nearby railing, Ruby floating out from her hiding spot within the fluff of Illya's hair.

"Aw, how long are you gonna stay down, Illya-san?" Ruby asked, Illya leaning on a hand.

"I don't feel down. I was just forced to recognize the gulf between us in talent." Illya said, then biting her thumb nail, "But she even beat me in running! That's one of my best abilities! I've always had confidence in my legs!"

"Illya that could be taken several potentially wrong ways." Eil remarked, _"That and it might be because Miyu isn't nearly as weighed down as you…"_

"Now now. Let's hurry on home, okay?" Ruby said, Illya just nodding as she stood up, though as they turned to leave, who else would show up but Miyu?

"What are you doing?" Miyu murmured, approaching the other two a bit, Illya awkwardly putting a hand behind her head.

"Y-You caught me at a bad time." Illya said, "Miyu-san, are you heading home presently?"

"Why are you being so polite?" Eil muttered.

"Yeah what's with that?!" Ruby snapped, Illya bowing her head, "Geez, Miyu-san is a magical girl companion, isn't she?"

"Companion…" Miyu muttered, Eil catching the darkened look on the girl's face.

"Oh… you're right. We are aren't we?" Illya said, giving a laugh.

"Why are you collecting the Cards?" Miyu asked, Illya humming.

"Oh uh… well, things just kind of happened so… I guess I have to? Or maybe you could say I got tricked into it." Illya said, "But I mean, do I need a "why"? If the Cards will do something bad, do I need a better reason to want to help collect them?"

"Then why do you fight?" Miyu said, but Illya just gave a look to her, Eil notiving Miyu looked like she was actually having a hard time processing it.

"Th-That's basically the same question isn't it?" Illya asked, "Again I don't really need a "why." If something bad could happen, then I wanna stop that from happening!"

"But you were dragged into this, right?" Miyu said, "So you have no responsibility or obligation to fight."

"Well, yeah maybe I don't. But I still wanna do the right thing." Illya said, a notable flinch coming from Miyu. "And if that means fighting, then I guess it's what I need to do, right?"

"Not everyone has some complicated reasoning or motivation for what they do." Eil added, pocketing his hands, "I mean I was basically thrown into this for no reason than the fact I can keep Rin and Lluvia in line when they get snippy. Aside from my own curiosity about the Cards, I really don't have a reason to be here myself. Still, like Illya, I don't want people getting hurt if those things get loose."

"But if you hadn't really wanted this, even Ruby would've conceded." Miyu said, Eil shrugging.

"Knowing her that's unlikely." Eil remarked, Ruby looking at him in a motion that would've come with a glare on a human.

"Well… you know, I kind of admired stuff like this though." Illya said, tapping a fight, "It's like… I get to be in a story like in a game or an anime, y'know?"

"Game?" Miyu said, Illya nodding.

"Yeah. We use magic to fight enemies who're in weird dimensions, it all kinda sounds like a joke at first, but then it's exciting because it means all the stuff we normally thought was just fantasy is actually real." Illya replied, Miyu flinching again. "And I have the chance to actually be part of that myself. So, I might as well enjoy it, even if just a little bit, right? I understand this is serious, and I really shouldn't look at it like a game… but, it still almost feels like one."

"Enough." Miyu said, her tone bearing just the _slightest_ hint of irritation to it, "You're so frivolous and carefree." The girl then turned to leave, looking back at Illya after taking a step, "You don't have to fight. I'll retrieve the Cards on my own."

"Idiot." Eil grumbled.

"Huh?"

 _ **THWACK!**_

Next Miyu knew as she turned, she'd been flicked rather hard on the forehead, looking up to see Eil pulling an arm back, the young man sighing.

"That's not happening." The white haired boy stated, ruffling the messy strands of his hair, "I don't care if you have some grander reason to be getting these Cards we don't know about. For all I know you have some mysterious past connected to them. But I don't care one bit. Even if you have Sapphire, these are _still_ Servants we're fighting. Trying to take them all down alone is a fool's errand with the kind of power we're limited to. Don't try to push all the responsibility onto yourself, it'll only get you killed."

"Mmmmm…" Miyu only gave a mutter, Eil leaning down a bit to look her dead in the eyes, removing the near-head's worth of height difference between them.

"I may not know you very well, Miyu, but so long as your part of this rag-tag bunch of misfits, you're not allowed to go and get yourself killed. We may be risking our lives, but don't expect me to just _let_ someone die under my watch, alright?" Eil said, poking Miyu on the forehead here he'd flicked her, the girl brushing his hand aside.

"Whatever." Miyu murmured, walking off with a bit of a huff, Eil standing straight with a sigh, looking around as he rubbed the back of his head, and when he turned, he raised a brow to see how Illya was staring at him with an almost awed look, and he could swear there were _sparkles_ hovering around her.

"What?" Eil muttered.

"C-Cool." Illya murmured, Eil letting out a short breath.

"Uhh… right. So uh… want me to walk ya' home? It's getting pretty late after all."

"A-Absolutely!"

* * *

"She got dragged into this too right? Why did she seem so mad back there?"

"Maybe we stepped on some kind of landmine." Eil remarked, giving a sigh as he put his arms behind his head, "It's a bother though… this was supposed to be a simple smash and grab, now it's all complicated!"

"You really wanted this to be easy huh?" Illya asked, Eil shrugging.

"I didn't expect it to, considering what we'd be fighting. I didn't expect sudden "person with a mysterious past and issues" to happen though." Eil said, Illya giving a chuckle again.

"Yeah. Well, thanks. We're not far now so… huh? Why's Sella out here?" Illya said, Eil following her line of sight to a young woman just outside one of the houses in the suburb, trussed up in what he could only see as a "typical housekeeper's" outfit and her white hair in a side plait, "I'm home, Sella!"

" _She announced herself anyway."_ Eil remarked, tailing Illya as she approached Sella.

"Ah, welcome home Illya." Sella said.

"What's wrong?" Illya asked, Eil already scanning around, and his expression became tenser when he did.

"Ah, well… that's…" Sella said, pointing off to in front of her, Illya turning to see that, where a row of houses _had_ been, a grand gate leading to a short stretch of woods and a big mansion now stood.

"W-What?! I-It's huge!" Illya yelped, Eil's right eye twitching. "What's this deluxe mansion?! When was this built in front of us?!"

"I have a bad feeling I already know who's responsible for this oh so flagrant ignorance of land laws…" Eil grumbled, bringing a hand to his face.

"They suddenly began construction this morning." Sella stated, "And before I knew it, the mansion was finished."

" _It couldn't be anybody but Lluvia!"_ Eil thought, his expression all kinds of unamused, and further things, _Miyu_ came into view yet again, the girl stopping when she saw Illya and Eil, a moment of silence passing before the dark haired girl approached the gate.

"W-Wait!" Illya said, Miyu opening the gate, "Ehhh?! D-Don't tell me, this mansion… i-is it your home, Miyu-san?"

"Well, kind of." Miyu stated, the gate shutting behind her.

" _I WAS RIIIIGHT!"_ Eil mentally shouted, but he had the urge to yell for real as he covered his mouth to actually make sure he didn't do that.

"Is she a friend of yours Illya?" Sella asked, Illya tilting a hand back and forth, and Sella seemed to finally take notice of Eil's presence as she looked over the boy turning and eyes meeting… followed by silence before Sella reeled back, "EHHHHHH?! Illya why is there a boy with you?! How long has he even been there?!"

"Eh… oh uh, well, he's a new student at school and, well…" Illya said, an awkward, quirked smile on her face, _"I totally forgot Eil was here!"_

"You, boy, how did you meet Illya?!" Sella snapped, getting right into Eil's face, the boy looking to the side.

" _Not like I can say I was there the night of that "prank" and saw her in a magical girl outfit."_ Eil thought, putting a hand behind his head, "Well, we happened to end up in the same class and uh… Illya happened to show me around a bit! I've been moving from place to place and I'm not really familiar with Japan, so she offered to help."

" _He bluffs so easily!"_ Illya thought, but, her main concern was whether or not Sella would actually buy the bluff. In the often regular absence of her real parents, Sella tended to act like the mom of the Einzbern household, so Illya was well aware even the _idea_ of a boy coming home with her downright terrified Sella, especially since she was at "that" point in her life and all. "Uh, yeah that!"

"Hmmmmm…." Sella murmured, looking Eil up and down a few times, clearly checking him over, "Huh, well, fine. If it was just a walk home I suppose there's no issue then. Well, I should be polite. I'm Sella, one of the maids of the Einzbern house, nice to meet you."

"R-Right… and, Eil Coltheart. Nice to meet you too." Eil said, returning the small bow Sella had given, _"Every time I hear Einzbern I just can't stop thinking about them… does Illya even know who her family really is? It doesn't seem like it… so was she raised separately? No, that doesn't sound right. The Einzbern's are crazy inclusive, they wouldn't just let a scion run around outside their home turf without due reason… but, Illya seems like she's been living here in Fuyuki for a long time… so what's up with this?"_

"Well… you seem nice enough." Sella murmured, Eil and Illya both letting out a relieved breath, Sella then jabbing a finger into Eil's face, "But don't think this mean's I won't be cautious! A good looking boy like you around Illya may cause problems! She's a young, healthy girl and-hmmmphhh!"

"Okay Sella please stop talking you're rambling again!" Illya slammed a hand over Sella's mouth as the woman started going off on her tangent, Eil just tilting his head a bit, "So uh, s-see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Yeah." Eil said, giving a nod and starting to walk off, waving as he did so, Illya finally releasing Sella after a moment, _"More like see ya' tonight since we're heading to the temple… hope Rin planted the message like we planned."_

* * *

"Hmm… Ryudouji Temple… that place is directly over one of the biggest clusters of leylines in the city… what kind of Servant would manifest there?" Rin tapped her pen on her chin as she looked at the map of the city laid out on the table in front of her. The plans, whatever they could make anyway, for tonight being rather loose. Since it wasn't like they could predict which Servant would be in what distortion, Rin at least hoped she could narrow down options based on mana concentration and relative location.

Which is easier said than done.

"Well it took a bit longer, but, I'm back!" The door into the room slid open as Eil's voice came down the hall, Rin looking up from her paper.

"You know I'm surprised you actually decided to transfer into the school." Rin remarked, Eil shrugging.

"Yeah well I have other plans… though…" Eil muttered, jabbing a thumb over, "We've got a guest as well."

"Huh?" Rin muttered.

"Oh-hohohohoho!"

"Oh no…"

"Yeah…"

As Eil put a hand to his face while that signature laugh came down the hall, Rin's head slumped when Lluvia entered the picture.

"She was kinda just waiting outside in a freaking limo." Eil said, nearly flopping down as he set his school bag down, Rin's hand meeting her face, Lluvia giving a huff.

"Don't think I'd let you two try and get plans in without me! Like I would allow that!" Lluvia said, jabbing a finger at the other two magi students.

"How did you even find out where we live?" Rin remarked, Eil glancing at her.

"Well you're awfully adjusted already…" Eil said, Rin not paying mind to the comment.

"Simple, I had my butler August follow Coltheart's own servants during the day and trace them back here!" Lluvia said, Eil's eye twitching.

"You stalked the maids?! Are you nuts?!" Eil snapped, Lluvia just huffing again. "Ugh, whatever. I take it we'd be followed to where we were headed anyway. Take a seat… you _can_ sit properly in a Japanese home yeah?"

"O-Of course! I am a proper lady, it doesn't matter where it is, unlike that barbaric Tohsaka Rin!" Lluvia said, Rin's lip quirking.

"I'm sitting right here. And let me tell you, if you're not used to it, sitting Japanese style can make your legs crazy sore." Rin said, Lluvia huffing as she sat down, her hands on her lap, Eil sighing as lightning shot between the two young woman's eyes yet again.

"Okay can we just stop and try to form some kind of plan?!" Eil snapped, and when the sparks didn't stop, he slammed a fist down on the table to get Rin and Lluvia's attention, "Thank you! So, to start, we're headed to Ryudouji Temple. Rin, what did your scouting today get from the place?"

"Right… well, first off, the location has a really strong cluster of leylines." Rin said, pointing to the location on the map, also adding a layer over it, one marked with dozens upon dozens of thick, dark lines, four sports on the map in particular having extra thick clusters of these lines, "It makes sense that a Card would land here at Ryudouji. I checked around a bit and the concentration is still rather strong… I can at least guess the Card isn't of a Class that would require a large amount of mana to father."

"So that at least rules out Saber and Berserker for now." Eil said, lowering two of four fingers, "Which leaves Caster and Assassin as the likely cases… but we should be careful in case we really _do_ end up with the former two. There's always a chance."

"Well that's just troublesome. Even with the lowered chance, we still may have to face an incredibly strong foe so soon." Lluvia remarked, looking serious about this, "Well, even then, what kind of plan could we form? It's not like we can tell what Servant it'll be. Even if we can identify the Class, there's also the abilities of the Heroic Spirit themselves."

"True, but, all the Classes do have a general few shared traits." Eil said, "For example, Saber's tend to have ranks in Magic Resistance, so straight magic isn't good against them. Berserkers commonly have Mad Enhancement, making them incredibly dangerous, and these ones would lack reason to begin with."

"So basically, knowing some basic skills can give us at least a basic idea of what we _could_ manage." Rin stated, Eil nodding.

"Yeah. An Assassin for one, would typically be easier. They're not very strong ability wise. A well-trained Magus with the right skill set could probably take one down with a good amount of effort on their part. Caster's tend to be especially powerful magic casters, but they tend to lose an advantage when you get past their abilities, but it can vary… the thing we _don't_ want though, is for Caster to have already manifested within its distortion and had time to set up whatever tricks the Spirit can pull."

"How bad could that end up being?" Lluvia inquired, Eil putting a hand on his chin as he hummed.

"Again, it depends on the Spirit in question, but in general, it would get nasty really fast, especially if it's a Caster with a particularly powerful brand of magecraft, like say one from the Age of Gods such as Circe or Medea. Physicality wise they'd likely be easy pickings, but in terms of raw magic they'd easily beat out even what the Kaleidosticks are capable of producing." Eil said, Rin and Lluvia feeling a sudden sense of foreboding at that idea, "At the least, we know that Lancer's card corresponds to Cu Chullain, and Gae Bolg is an especially powerful Noble Phantasm. If Miyu uses it right, it'd assure an instant kill unless the Servant has a high enough Luck stat. What about Archer?"

"Archer's Include is a bow." Rin said, "It's basically useless without arrows, and not like we _have_ those."

"Well you've got _me."_ Eil said, snapping his fingers, an arrow appearing in a burst of light into his hand, the young man rolling it in his palm as he smirked a bit, letting it vanish as Rin and Lluvia looked to each other, "But, I see the point. And we still need to see what Rider let's someone do. It's Medusa, so we don't know… could be her petrifying gaze, or… "Beller"… as in Bellerophon and the Pegasus? Hmm… Medusa _is_ the mother of the creature… it's entirely possible, especially since her Class is Rider… maybe."

"Uh, Eil? You're rambling." Rin said, Eil blinking a bit, as if he'd snapped out of a daydream of some sort, "Okay so… were we stand is basically… same as before. We have a general idea of _what_ could happen but that's about it… at the least we know this now: Assassin is likely to be our easier foe to take down. Caster will be dangerous if they already manifested, and Saber and Berserker will be the toughest. If we're lucky, we may face Assassin tonight and have an easy time."

"If we're lucky. But, with my lovely Miyu on the battlefield, our victory might as well be assured!" Lluvia said, "But… there is a point to those thoughts. Preparation is necessary, even I can recognize that."

"Exactly. So, before tonight, we should…"

"Good evening Eil! Sorry for bursting in like this! Actually, not sorry!" The door slamming open got all three teens to turn to it, Eil's eyes going wide as it was _Taiga_ at the doorway, and the enthusiastic woman immediately froze when she saw who the two young woman at the table with Eil, "Ah… h-huh?"

"So… will "I can explain" work in this situation?" Eil said.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TWO GIRLS IN THE HOUSE?!" Taiga yelped.

"I said I can explain!" Eil shouted, "And don't just barge into a person's home like that Taiga! I don't care if your granddad own's the property, it's still rude! We were kind of in the middle of something!"

"Middle of… well, obviously it was a serious conversation, so it couldn't be _that…_ even if you are a healthy young man." Taiga said, Eil's face going a bit red, "But still, I can't simply abide the idea of a young man being alone with two young woman! It's too suspicious of a situation!"

"Albert and the maids are here y'know?!" Eil snapped, Rin and Lluvia looking downright flabbergasted at what was going on now. "Remember how I said I'm here on some business too? That. These two are here because of that."

" _I wonder what she was thinking about before."_ Rin and Lluvia though, Taiga then giving a nod.

"Well I suppose, especially if it's not for that long." Taiga said, "Alright then! Allow me to introduce myself! I'm Fujimura Taiga, this little snot's homeroom teacher _and_ big sister!"

"Yeah not a chance at the last one!" Eil snapped, struggling to get out of the grip as Taiga threw an arm over his neck and yanked him in.

"Uh…. N-nice to meet you. We're a couple of Eil's upperclassmen from England." Rin said, intending to leave it at that, Eil coughing a bit once he was released, Taiga nodding.

"I see I see. Well, to be safe, I suppose I'll have to stop by more often." Taiga stated.

"Please don't." Eil muttered.

"He really is a mystery, isn't he, Tohsaka?' Lluvia murmured, a silent nod being the response she got from Rin.

"Then again we're around a lot of weird people." Rin added, glancing over as Eil and Taiga started going at it verbally, "Some weirder than others."

* * *

"What is it… with Japanese temples… and having so many steps?!"

Illya, compared to everyone else, was supporting herself on her knees. The group was standing in the yard of the local temple, the main building of the walled of locale nearby, and the open grounds stretched wide and openly.

The perfect place for a fight to take place.

"Let's keep it short and simple. We go in and get the Card quickly. If we have to back out, then we do so and go back in with a plan after finding out what we're up against, got it? Don't go and try to play the hero or do something stupid." Eil stated, though Rin and Lluvia's glaring at one another seemed to drown him out more than just a bit.

"Don't lower your guard Illya. Be wary of both the enemy _and_ Lluvia." Rin said, Eil's looking going flat.

"We wouldn't want to get caught up in their fight after all." Ruby stated.

"Miyu, strike fast. Close the distance as soon as we start." Lluvia said, and then Eil just looked annoyed as he grit his teeth. "And do your best to catch Tohsaka Rin in your attack too!"

"Understood. Save the latter part." Miyu said, Eil's foot stamping onto the gravel.

"Did nobody hear anything I've been telling them over the past few days?! Drop the stupid rivalry and think goddammit!" Eil snapped, sighing and then checking his phone, "It's almost midnight anyway. Ruby, Sapphire, open the gate."

With the phrases from both sticks, Eil hopped onto the circle formed by Ruby, and with a flash in the air the lot found themselves yet again in the Mirror World, that ominous air from before across the temple grounds, Eil looking around for any sign of their foe… and looking up immediately gave him an answer.

The sky itself was filled with giant dark orbs that had to have dotted every last spot they could across the breadth of the distortion, and smirking down at the lot was a robed figure that could just be made out above the wall of orbs.

And then the red lines started appearing, focusing on everyone standing below.

"Well shit… a Caster had prep time." Eil said, an eye twitching as everyone else looked at him, "This is gonna suck."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ahh yes, yes it will Eil. And so will many other things that happen in the long run but hey there's plenty of fun to be had along the way… I honestly don't have anything else so, see ya next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 5: We Lost**

"What is that?" Illya asked, Eil gritting his teeth as he took a bit of a step backwards as even more red lines descended on the group. "There are so many!"

"Illya Miyu, throw up barriers now, put them to the highest output you've got!" Eil snapped, the orbs focusing completely, and just in time for the barriers to be thrown up, dark bolts of energy began raining down on the five, Eil having an arm lifted as he had his own barrier raised behind Ruby's, "This is _exactly_ the kind of situation I _didn't_ want happening!"

And once the barrage ended, the two barriers had been knocked down, and the group shot up, bruised a bit but for the most part unharmed.

"I-It hurts! And it's hot! What is all this?!" Illya yelped, Rin shooting up.

"How is it penetrating a Rank-A magic barrier?!" Rin yelped, Eil wiping off his chin a bit.

"If I had to guess it's an older style of magecraft! Dammit, this just _had_ to happen didn't it?" Eil growled, standing up, focusing on the Servant above, "Come on, give me a clear view… who the hell _are you?"_

"Oh? That's strange…" Ruby murmured, Lluvia stepping up.

"A long range fight is fine by me!" Lluvia said, Eil looking to her. "Now get down here!"

"Not a good idea!" Eil snapped, though Miyu already shot forward, swinging Sapphire and loosing a large blast of energy, though it didn't get far before it came crashing against a wide barrier before it even came close to Caster, "What did I say?! A prepped Caster wouldn't have just filled out attacks, it would also have produced some kind of barrier! Nothing we fire will get through that thing!"

"A mana directional control field?" Lluvia muttered, Eil again focusing on the Servant. "On such a large scale?"

"Tch, damn, I can't get a read on her with all this other stuff in the way!" Eil grumbled, swiping a hand over his eyes, a flow coming about them, and he flinched when he saw just how _fast_ Caster's lips were moving, "Rapid incantations… she's preparing another attack, move!"

"Huh?" Illya yelped as a dark torrent began to rise up around them until it towered over them, the girl giving a nervous chuckle, a magic circle starting to form in the air, "We're in a deadly pinch for sure!"

"Should we be taking the time to talk?!" Rin snapped, Eil nodding.

"Yeah, Ruby, Sapphire, jump us out of here now!" Eil ordered, Illya and Miyu holding out the two sticks, who started the incantation, "Come on faster, that things almost done forming!"

"Hurry hurry!" Rin and Lluvia shouted, Illya screaming as the magic circle shot down and formed a massive ball of energy, which then proceeded to crash down on top of the lot as a massive pillar of red light…

* * *

But lucky for the lot of them, even if they came out back into the real battered and bruised in all sorts of ways, the group of five were alive and well, if also charred and left in a complete mess despite it.

"My, that was a splendid defeat." Ruby noted, floating over looking just as beat up, "No less than a historical defeat."

"Not like we could've seen it coming." Eil grumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Wh-What was with that enemy? Eil, did you get a full scan or what?" Rin asked, Eil sighing as he leaned on a hand.

"Not at all." Eil muttered, "I at least know the enemy is a Caster, but that should be obvious. But that barrier was interfering with my ability to identify her. I don't have any parameters or even her True Name… but, I can make some rough guesses based on the kind of magic she was using."

"What is the meaning of this?! I thought Kaleid Liners were supposed to be invincible!" Lluvia snaped, taking her frustrations out by yanking at Sapphire, Miyu looking at the young woman with a flat expression on her face.

"Please stop taking it out on me, Lluvia-sama." Sapphire flatly said.

"Ruby Thumping!" Ruby snapped, nailing Lluvia dead in the eye, the rich girl flopping to the ground and rolling about as she held her now pain riddled faced, "I won't allow anyone to bully Sapphire! And if you think magical girls are invincible, you're conceited! Well, they do have the ability to overwhelm most opponents, but there are still issues of affinity."

"So, the enemy with the worst affinity, was that Caster." Rin noted.

"Geez, that's just unfair." Lluvia grumbled, wiping her face off.

"It was definitely well beyond what we know about. No wonder out barrier couldn't stop it!" Ruby said, Eil nodding as the stick spoke.

"That hurt…" Illya said, her shoulders slumping.

"Those magic circles and incantations weren't form any modern school of mage craft. Master Eil, do you have any input?" Sapphire said, Eil nodding.

"Going by my rough guess of that Caster, her magecraft was likely something from the Age of Gods." Eil said, a hand on his chin as he thought, "And the most likely candidate for that in a Caster Class would likely be a Servant from ancient Greece… let's see, there's Circe, but she has inhuman traits, and if influenced by the Throne it would show… then, hmm… who's the most likely candidate after Circe?"

"I was thinking the same possibility." Sapphire said, Eil starting to tilt his head back and forth a bit as he thought harder.

"That mana reflection field is a problem too." Rin noted, "As long as she has that, none of our attacks will hit."

"Her attack circles and reflection field were both fixed coordinate types." Sapphire stated, Eil giving a hum.

"Well if we can shoot from below then what about above? If we can get Illya and Miyu past the barrier they should be able to take her down easily with something like the Gae Bolg." Eil said, "We could also see what the Rider Card does, since who knows what Phantasm it would allow the use of."

"Correct. I believe if we can fly, than we could defeat her." Sapphire said.

"That said we can't expect them to fly without practice." Rin added.

"We'd be better off giving both a chance to actually learn to use the sticks properly anyway." Eil stated.

"Oh, I see! So I should've just flown right?" With a little noise like a bunch of electronic bells going off, the magus trio turned to see that Illya had, with practically insulting ease, lifted off the ground and begun hovering in place a short ways above them, "Huh, what?"

"Hey, how are you flying so easily?!" Rin yelped, Eil putting a hand on his chin.

"I'm impressed." Eil remarked, then something of an odd look came to his face, "But… yeah, uh, _how?"_

"That's amazing Illya-san!" Ruby cheered, wiggling about happily in Illya's grip, "Handling advanced flight so easily!"

"I-Is it really that amazing?" Illya asked, getting nods from the magus trio.

"Without a strong image, even mere floating is difficult." Sapphire remarked, "So how…"

"Oh? You're asking me how?" Illya replied, a finger on her chin for a moment, "Well… I mean don't all magical girls have the ability to fly?"

" **What a helpful delusion!"** Eil, Rin, and Lluvia all yelped at the casually stated remark as Illya floated back down to the ground, though again Eil gained an odd look as an eye twitched.

" _Not like I can mention_ that… _If I did Rin would throttle me for holding out on secrets, not like I can openly talk about it openly… I mean she's a Tohsaka so I doubt I'd be in danger… it's Edelfelt who concerns me, our families have something of a rep…"_ Eil though, glancing between both his seniors as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We can't lost to her, Miyu!" Lluvia said, Eil giving a sigh, "Fly this very instant!"

"People can't fly…" Miyu replied, her look that kind of tense darkened look one has when mental faculties are being challenged.

"Wh-What a dreamless child…" Lluvia gasped.

"Lluvia we're not that much younger than you." Eil flatly remarked, sighing again, Lluvia growling then grabbing Miyu by her collar.

"You'll never fly thinking that way!" Lluvia snapped, dragging the younger girl off, "Come, we'll train you to fly by tomorrow!"

"Good grief, then that's it for tonight." Rin remarked, "I'll try to come up with some kind of strategy as well."

"I should be able to narrow down what Caster's identity is as well." Eil remarked.

"Can we actually beat that thing?" Illya remarked, flinching a bit when Eil pat her on the head.

"We'll find a way through it." Eil stated, pocketing his hands, "And hey, stop by my place tomorrow yeah? I can probably teach you some new tricks you could use to help against Caster. Sound good?"

"Y-Yeah!" Illya nodded, her face glowing red, but other things were going through her head at the moment, Eil and Rin starting to head off, "Uh… S-See you tomorrow!"

"Yeup! And don't worry, we're definitely gonna win!" Eil said, pumping a fist.

"No matter what it takes!" Rin said, throwing a fist into the air.

* * *

"W-Whaaaaat?! This is where Eil lives?!" Illya's eyes were wide as plates as she looked up and down the wall of the complex that sat at the address she'd gotten, Ruby flitting out.

"An old Japanese style home. Hmhmhm, quite the home for a young man to be living in on his own." Ruby remarked, Illya nodding slowly.

"It's huge… how much space does he have to spare?" Illya murmured, cautiously stepping onto the grounds, _"But… if it's just the two of us, then… no, no! It's just magic tutoring, that's it! But… but… ahh why am I thinking those kinds of things?!"_

Illya sighed to herself as she stopped at the doorway and pressed the doorbell, a soft ring reaching her ears as her finger left the button, and through the screen old fashioned door, she could barely make out the shape of the hallway, mainly the bulky looking shadows that were probably shelves of some kind.

"Hold on a second!" Eil's voice managed to reach through, and a few moments later, the door flew open, Eil standing there looking a tad exhausted, "Ah, hey Illya! Ahehe, sorry if I look like a mess, I just kind of woke up."

"Ehh? You don't seem like the type to sleep in." Illya remarked, Eil chuckling.

"Ahehe, well, there was a lot to draft you know? I was also thinking a lot on who Caster could be, so I was doing a lot of reading." Eil said, "Uh, so, come on in, no point in just standing out there yeah?"

"R-Right!" Illya said, Eil moving back and allowing her in, _"I'm actually in a boy's house! Alone! Well… does Ruby count? I don't know…"_

"The living room is this way." Eil said, waving with an arm and guinding Illya down the hall, "My butler and maids are out doing some errands, so nobody should be doing a lot of disturbing."

"Ah…" Illya said, then stopping dead, _"Wait, Eil has servants?! And they're gone?! So we really are alone?! Ahhhh!"_

"Ah… wait... eh, nevermind." Eil said, shrugging as he opened the door into the primary room, and Illya immediately spotted the stack of books on the table, "Sorry for the mess, we were pretty busy after we got back."

"Ah don't worry." Illya said, then the words fully registered, "Wait… we?"

"Ah, right, well you see…" Eil said, the stack of books then shuffling about, and Illya yelped when the stack tumbled as Rin suddenly shot to a straight sitting position, the older girl blinking in clear left over sleepiness, Eil just gesturing over to Rin, "She's kinda camping out here while we collect the Cards."

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Illya yelled in shock, Eil putting his hands over his ears, and next both knew, Illya got a book thrown at her head, Eil looking over to view a very irritated Rin lowering her arm.

"Be quiet!" Rin snapped, putting her head in her hands. "Ugh… so tired… why did we stay up so late?"

" _Up late? Up late doing what?!"_ Illya thought, feeling a particular sort of pang in her chest as Eil walked over to Rin and snapped his fingers in the tired girl's face a bit.

"Because we're trying to take out a Servant. You able to get up or you need me to drag your tired butt to your room?"

" _She has a room here too?!"_ Illya yelped, Rin shaking her head to Eil's suggestion as she stood up.

"I'm… fine…" Either way Rin still yawned, practically stumbling out of the room, "Have fun with your training… don't go and blow anything up now!"

"Yeah yeah." Eil muttered, Rin slamming the door shut behind her even when she really shouldn't have, Eil sighing, "Yeah uh, sorry… Rin obviously isn't the kind of person who weaks up easy."

"Obviously." Illya murmured, picking up the book that had been thrown at her, and she squinted as she saw that the letters were in English, "Hmm… this is… "G"… "R"… "E"… "E"… "K"…"

"Greek Mythology." Eil said, plucking the book from Illya and opening up to a page he'd marked, "From what I narrowed down yesterday I started flicking through some books to try and narrow it down. I already ruled out Circe last night… and I think I figured it out."

"Really?" Illya asked, Eil nodding.

"I'll be able to confirm it when I can properly identify Caster, but right now I'm pretty sure her identity is Medea, the Princess of Colchis." Eil said, "I can exposit more later but we're gonna train right? You need to sharpen your skills for round two after all."

"Right! So… uh, where _are_ we going to train?" Illya asked, Eil setting the book down.

"Well, this place is too near, so, how about the woods on the edge of town? They're nice and open and there'll be plenty of room to use some magic without drawing attention." Eil said, then noticing the suddenly somewhat disappointed look on Illya's face, "Uh… does that… not work?"

"Eh?! N-No that's not it! Ahehehe… I mean if I was going to practice I'd do it out there to so… uh… l-let's go!"

* * *

"Alright, this should be enough space for things!" Eil gave a chuckle as he and Illya came to a grassy clearing in the woods, the young man stretching a bit as he looked around the space, turning on his heel to face Illya, "Alright, get into your Trance, and we can get started."

"Righto! Compact Full Open!" Ruby cheered, Illya looking at the stick with wide eyes.

"Wait we're doing that now?!" Illya yelped, but since her grip was already on Ruby, it was far too late as the stick chuckled, Eil sighed as lights and sparkles started flying about, covering his eyes with a hand, but despite the act, he parted a couple of his fingers, though in his personal thoughts on the almost overly shiny, twirly display, at the least of it Illya's modesty was _mostly_ preserved by the various glimmers and sudden streams of absolutely random light… not that it didn't wind up giving Eil a better idea of Illya's form than he admittedly would've liked to spare the poor girl from knowing.

" _I'll just act like I didn't see anything."_ Eil thought, closing his parted fingers until he saw one more big flash, he lowered his hand, Illya standing there in her Trance form and looking more than a tad embarrassed as her grip on Ruby became tight enough the stick started wincing a bit.

"W-Why did you do that all of a sudden?!" Illya snapped, Ruby chuckling. "Don't just chuckle! You just exposed me in front of a boy!"

"Oh don't be prissy, I used convenient light beams to make sure he didn't see anything too naughty." Ruby said.

"That doesn't help!"

"Ruby, why didn't you just make the Trance instant like you can easily do? There wasn't a need for all the flashy theatrics." Eil muttered, Illya freezing in place while Ruby just laughed.

"A transformation sequence is necessary for a Magical Girl!" Ruby declared, lifting one of her "feathers" up, "Regardless of it's really even necessary in real context! This _is_ a magical girl story… though admittedly I'd prefer it things took a turn and got a bit smutty."

"What did you just say?!" Illya snapped, waving Ruby around, "I don't even have to do that embarrassing transformation?! Why do you make me do it then?!"

"I just said outside of normal context it's necessary!" Ruby said, Eil putting a hand over his eyes.

"I'm more surprised the smut thing got ignored…" Eil grumbled, sighing as his arm lowered down, Illya making a point to slam Ruby into the ground, leaving a small but notable crater. "Okay so… moving on. What to cover first…"

"Oh, actually, Rin-san gave me this the other day." Illya said, reaching down to her thigh where a particular holder was, pulling out one of the Class Cards, the Archer Card to be particular, "You mentioned the Cards, so maybe I should start with seeing what this Card does?"

"Well we do need to figure out what they do, so, sure, go right ahead." Eil said, reaching into his coat and pulling out the Rider Card, turning it over in his hand a bit, "Hmm, I wonder…"

"It says "Archer" so it must be a bow, right?" Illya asked. "I wonder what kind of powerful weapon it is."

"Well use it and let's find out!" Ruby said, bouncing about a bit.

"Alright! Include!" Illya said, slapping the card onto Ruby's front, the staff promptly shining and reforming, Illya the finding herself grasping a black long bow of sorts, it's shape more than a bit unusual at the grip, "It really appeared! We can win with this right? Okay, let's try firing it!"

Illya pulled the string back, only to get absolutely nothing, the girl blinking for a moment while Eil sighed a bit as the girl then yelped.

"Hahhh?! What the heck? This thing doesn't make its own arrows?!"

"… I could argue that but I think there are some Archers that actually do shoot energy arrows." Eil muttered, "I guess this one just can't."

"But then how am I supposed to use it?" Illya asked, Eil shrugging, turning the Rider Card between his fingers.

"Maybe use your mana to produce raw energy bolts? It'd probably be more precise than the wide shots fired from Ruby directly." Eil remarked, Illya giving a sigh as she slumped over a bit.

"That likely wouldn't be too hard for you to learn, Illya-san! We Kaleidosticks can do quite a lot!" Ruby said, the bow reverting to the stick form, Illya catching the Card as it came flying off.

"Yeah but we don't have a lot of time for me to figure out something like that do we?" Illya said, a hand behind her head, "So what _could_ I do then if the Card is pretty much useless?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out between now and tonight." Eil said, then holding up the Card in his hand in front of him, "Include!"

And promptly in a flash of blue light coming from his hand as visible magic circuits shone on Eil's arm for a moment, he found himself holding the same chained needle dagger as Rider had been, though curious a second one had formed in his left hand as well, Eil holding the weapons up and giving a hum, while Illya looked suitably shocked and Ruby had gone rigid.

"Well I was not expecting that to work." Eil said, flipping one of the daggers into a reversed hold.

"Wait wait wait wait waiiiit!" Ruby shouted, dragging Illya over as she flew off, "How did you just Include the Card without a Mystic Code to change it with?!"

"I dunno… I just put some mana into it figuring it could work out." Eil said, "I mean I wasn't expecting it too, like I just said. I figured it was at least worth a try."

"Well then…" Illya murmured, the daggers returning to Card form with a flick of Eil's wrist, "I guess we're training the old fashioned way huh?"

"Guess so." Eil said stretching his arms, "Let's just hope Lluvia is being reasonable with Miyu."

"Ah, yeah." Illya hummed, putting a finger on her chin, "I wonder what kind of training Miyu-san is going to do herself."

"Again, I hope it's reasonable, especially because Lluvia is a… strange one." Eil muttered, folding his arms, "She's actually not a bad person so long as she and Rin aren't in the same room… she's just, _bizarre_ in how she goes about some things… let's hope she doesn't do something as crazy as throw Miyu off a cliff to try and make her fly."

"Ah… ehehe, yeah that would be bad." Illya remarked, looking up a bit and squinting as she could swear she saw something, and indeed she did, as the pinprick dot was getting bigger by the moment, "Uh… something's falling!"

"What?"

 _ **CRASH!**_

With a heavy impact to it, Illya yelped as she shot into the air to get away, Eil however not _quite_ so quick on the draw, Illya's eyes wide as the smoke began to give way to viewing a massive crater now in the ground where whatever it was had impacted.

"What the hell?! Eil-san, are you alright?!" Illya shouted, and she felt a bit of a twinge of shock as the some cleared enough to see more, and the twinge turned into flat surprise.

Deep in the bottom of the crater, she was able to first make out the details of the still but somewhat twitching Eil back-flat on the ground, though said view stopped short when it was revealed to Illya the falling object had been _Miyu,_ who was seated on (and seemingly unaware of) Eil in a way Illya could only refer to as "convenient" due to Eil's face _happening_ to have apparently taken the brunt of the impact and ending up underneath Miyu's rear.

"What's going on?" Illya murmured.

"I transferred all mana to physical defense. Are you hurt, Miyu-sama?" Sapphire said, Miyu shaking her head.

"N-No, somehow…" Miyu murmured, and Illya's face became a bit flat in expression as Miyu let out the slightest of shocked noises as Eil twitched underneath her, "H-Huh?"

"Well I'm not! Could you get off of me?!" Eil was rather audible despite the muffling, Miyu's face gaining a hint of red before she shot off in surprise, Eil sitting up with a flat expression of his own, "Mind explaining why you somehow came falling out of the sky?"

"Well… there is _that."_ Illya said, pointing up to a passing by helicopter, Eil sighing as he stood up and brushed himself off, though Miyu seemed more fixed on the fact Illya was still currently hovering in place.

"She's flying." The deadpan girl murmured.

"Yes and quite naturally at that." Sapphire said, "Master Eil, are you alright? I do apologize for what happened."

"It doesn't matter. I'm pretty sturdy all things considered." Eil said, patting his legs clean of dust, Illya lowering down to the ground, "But, seriously how did that happen?"

"Lluvia-sama threw Miyu-sama out of that helicopter you see up there." Sapphire remarked, an audible _smack_ sounding as Eil's hand met his forehead.

"That damn girl! She's lucky Miyu had you! What was she thinking?!" Eil snapped, throwing his arms up, though when he glanced back he noted Miyu starting to say something, the girl instead just looking away though.

"Uh, hey, if it's fine with you, do you want to practice together?" Illya asked, "If we can't fly, we can't fight. So we should work together."

"Uh… I… I want you to teach me how to fly." Miyu said, though to her confusion Illya was showing a shocked expression at _something,_ and when Miyu turned, she herself becamse shocked to see Eil _also_ seemingly hovering, but a closer look revealed small pulses of light beneath his feet, "H-Huh?"

"Was wondering when you two would notice." Eil remarked, tapping one of his feet, Miyu's eyes wide as she tilted her head, "This isn't really flight. As you can notice, there's platforms of mana under my feet. Just something of an alternative method one could use, but, let's try actual flight."

" _Eil just kind of moves at his own pace doesn't he?"_ Illya thought, her head tilting to one side as she gave a chuckle. "But… hmm, how _would_ I teach her? Not like I can just fly around like it would work… also I'm not too great a teacher."

"Well magic _is_ all about one's mental image." Eil stated, again taking a step into the air, then promptly _sitting down_ as well, the mana platform beneath him becoming large enough to facilitate the action, "For one, spell casting is all about a "trigger" image. I image a hammer striking hot steel whenever I cast for example."

"I just kind of think about what I want to happen." Illya said, putting a hand behind her head.

"I doubt it would be teaching methods." Sapphire remark, Eil letting himself drop to the ground, "But rather, I believe there is a fundamental problem with Miyu-sama's image of flight."

"So like… Miyu-san doesn't have a strong image to it? Like some kind of block?" Illya murmured, a hand on her chin.

"Which brings me to my question." Sapphire said, "Illya-sama, last night you said "don't all magical girls have the ability to fly." But what is the source of that image?"

"Source?" Illya repeated, looking to the side as the others all looked at her, "Oh, well, in that case…"

* * *

"How did I not see this as the reason?" Eil had a brow raised as he overturned the blu-ray case in his hand as Illya's head slumped, said case bearing the title of "Magical Bushido Musashi", Miyu on the floor of Illya's living room watching the show with wide eyes, the titular character currently in flight to the girl's obvious surprise of what she was viewing, "But it is… mostly reasonable I guess."

"Ehehe… yeah well, I watched a lot of this stuff when I was a kid and just had the DVDs and blu-rays left lying around and all that. But this is kinda one of the sources of my main image of magical girls." Illya said, twiddling her fingers, _"I can't say I still watch this all the time! I've been keeping up with the latest Precure season ever since it started."_

"Again, makes sense." Eil said, looking to Miyu, who looked positively frazzled at what she was watching, "Can't say the same for her though."

"This absurd act ignores aerodynamics." Miyu murmured, Eil and Illya looking at each other then back to Miyu, "Not to mention gravity, inertia, and the third law of motion."

"It's an anime I wouldn't think about it _that_ hard." Illya said.

"I wonder if Miyu-sama could fly if she were to watch all of this." Sapphire said, Eil looking to the side as he set the jewel case down.

"For some reason I doubt that." Eil murmured, leaning on his right hand.

"No, it's probably impossible." Miyu said, slumping a bit, "Even watching this I don't understand the principles behind her flight. It doesn't give me a concrete image. She doesn't appear to use buoyancy as a blimp does. So I can only imagine it falls under the laws of flight pertaining to airplanes that center around lift. But if so, then the formula for lift…"

"ENOUGH!" Eil shot up and smacked Miyu on the back of the head before she could go any further, Illya holding her head as she tried to process everything Miyu had just spat out. "This isn't a course in the physics of flight, this is a course in using _magic_ to achieve the same result science does! It's an entirely different process!"

"Geez Miyu-san, your base ability is incredible, but using your head like that is no good for a magical girl!" Ruby chimed in, "Look at Illya-san! She's ignoring the logic and the processes, but imagining the result! That kind of mindless optimism is ideal for magical girls!"

"Did you just call me an airhead?! Your words sound more like an insult!" Illya snapped, grabbing Ruby and doing some yanking of her own.

"Let me tell you something me mentor told me." Eil said, clearing his throat a bit, "He said "Everything that humans can imagine is made possible through magic." When I cast and say, use _Creation_ to form a weapon, I'm not imagining the process behind that weapon forming, but instead, imposing my own view of reality into reshaping the very weapon based on its foundations. Magic makes the World comply and produce that result."

"He quoted the sorcerer who made us!" Ruby added.

"Not through physics?" Miyu asked, Eil sighing as his hand came to his face again.

"I just said it's a different process, didn't I? Magecraft produces results similar _to_ sciences like physics, but it doesn't use the same methods to achieve those results. Like I just said, as mages, we impose our image of reality onto the World and our magecraft makes it comply." Eil stated, at some point in his discussion having put on a pair of faux glasses, "It's basically all a process of mental association and one's own will. In rare cases there are some who can create what's called a Reality Marble, imposing one's image of reality onto the World itself and creating a space in which the rules bend to that image."

"So, I guess it's like this, right?" Illya murmured, standing up and then pumping a fist, "Don't think, imagine!"

"That's one way to think about it I suppose." Eil remarked, removing the faux glasses with a smooth movement, but from the look on Miyu's face it was clear it seemed that entire concept wasn't flying, "You don't get it do you?"

"It's not that." Miyu said, standing up, "I can understand the processes and how it gets results… but I'm just not sure about the rest."

"Well at least try to apply it is what I would say." Eil stated, Miyu just nodding a bit as she went to the door.

"Well then… later." Miyu said, the door shutting behind her, Eil sitting down again.

"And she's gone." Eil murmured, leaning on a hand again.

"Well considering that yesterday she said I shouldn't fight, we've made progress, I think." Illya remarked, Ruby flitting over.

"Now if only you two could work together as a team." The stick responded, Illya nodding to the remark, Eil standing up.

"Eh? Going already?' Illya asked, Eil nodding.

"Yeah. Rin and I are gonna have to draft out some kind of game plan for tonight." Eil stated, stopping at the door and turning around, "But don't worry, we'll take Caster down no problem this time! I bet!"

"Yeah!" Illya nodded, throwing a fist up, Eil chuckling.

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

"Alright, I'm back, so what's for the… plans…" Eil's speech came to a stop as he entered the main room of the house, and while Rin _was_ there, they had a guest in the form of Taiga wolfing down a massive pile of food in front of her, Eil's eye twitching a bit as he saw the woman, "T-Taiga? What are you doing here at this time of day?"

"Hmm? Oh Eil welcome home!" Taiga said, Eil's eye twitching a bit, "I decided while you're here I may as well stop be regularly since it seems you're just surrounded by girls and all that."

"In what way does that account for anything?!" Eil snapped, sitting down and looking at Rin, his eyes getting across what he was thinking, _"What is she doing here?!"_

" _How should I know?!"_ Rin's shrug also somehow got across her thoughts, and so did the motions that followed, _"She just dropped in all of a sudden like she owned the place and then started eating what was being cooked!"_

" _Well I mean technically her grandfather own's the place… and she does that."_ Eil responded, hanging his head, then leaning on one hand while moving the other, _"But we have to find a way to get her out! We still need to make some kind of plan for fighting Caster tonight!"_

" _I know that!"_ Rin responded, her look becoming a glare, _"But like I have any idea of how to do even manage that! You're the one who knows her so you do something!"_

" _That's the problem! I know Taiga well enough to know how stubborn she can be. The only way we'd get her out is if something came to mind for her!"_ Eil responded, glancing at Taiga as she continued eating without a seeming care in the world, _"And not like we can plan if we keep this up…"_

" _How are we even managing this?"_ Rin responded, Eil hanging his head.

"Hey so… what's with the jazz hands between you two huh?" Taiga asked, Eil and Rin flinching in response, "What, some kind of secret code an adult wouldn't be privy to hmm?"

"N-Nothing like that." Eil said, leaning away from Taiga's prying and equally teasing gaze, "It's just uh, business and stuff involving why we're in town and all that. Stuff we can't really talk about and all, ehehehe."

"At least stuff we can't talk about in front of people." Rin said, Taiga just giving a hum, "And it also kind of involves business we have tonight soo…"

"Business?! Tonight?! Eil don't tell me it's a date!" Taiga shouted, Eil proceeding to chop the woman on the head.

"It's not a date!" Eil snapped, Taiga pulling back as she winced, "Like we said, _business,_ something involving things back in England."

"Did the hit have to happen?" Taiga asked.

"Yes."

" _Ugh… if this keeps up we won't even get a_ rough _plan."_ Rin thought, leaning on her hand as she sighed while Eil and Taiga kept the bit going, _"Still… I guess something kinda normal before then isn't terrible."_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well I don't really have much to say here and all so… see ya next chapter! Got a question, feel free to ask me through a PM, see ya next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 6: Rematch**

"Okay so… due to _complications,_ we didn't get to make a whole lot of plans, so, Rin and I kept it simple." Eil folded his arms as he spoke, the group again gathered in the central area of the temple grounds, Eil pointing a finger at Illya and Miyu, "So, in doing so, Illya, you're nimbler, so you'll handle feints and diversions to keep Caster's attention. Miyu, your attacks have more piercing power, you'll take the main offense."

"Also, Eil and I did some digging on the assumption this Caster is in fact Medea." Rin added, "We already saw her main magic abilities and her heavier hitting spells, one thing we should also not rule out is the possibility of her having the ability to teleport due to her older magic, and the potential for her Noble Phantasms, whatever they may be."

"And since I can get into the air as well, I should be able to get a full scan in and confirm what we're thinking." Eil added, cracking his knuckles, "The game plan here is to get above Caster and past her barrier. If she teleports, then I suggest using Lancer's Gae Bolg to take her down quickly. In fact, let's just use Lancer as soon as we get an opening and end it soon as we can."

"So, it's time for our rematch!" Rin said, slamming a fist into a palm, "We won't let another loss slide. So let's go!"

"Game on!" Eil said, turning forward as Illya and Miyu opened their circles, the shift passing quickly, Eil stretching a bit as Caster turned to face them from her vantage point, conveniently having placed himself behind Rin and Lluvia.

"Alright, let's make this quick!" Rin said.

"I shan't allow a second defeat!" Lluvia said, Miyu and Illya nodding to the statements.

"Alright, let's go." Eil murmured, and his voice dropped in volume a bit when his hands got close to his legs from a stretch, _"_ Connect, _Pegasus."_

With a brief but barely noticeable swirl in the air around his legs as multiple dots of light shone over them for a moment, Eil shot off with Miyu and Illya, and while Illya immediately took off into the air, Miyu followed suit with steps, Eil smirking a bit as he saw her using mana platforms.

"She took my advice! Nice!" Eil said, shooting into the air himself with his own steps, but rather than a shimmering pulse, it was more like the air itself moved with each step he took, and he swiped out the Rider Card as he rose up, "Illya, Miyu, let's go! _Include!"_

"On it!" Illya said, shooting to the side when the red beams began focusing on her, Caster's shots missing her as she nimbly wove between them, whereas Miyu and Eil rapidly dodged incoming shots by stepping off platforms or making ones just in the way.

" _We just need to get above the magic circles, then we can strike!"_ Eil thought, gripping the needle daggers in his hands a bit tighter, his eyes focused on Caster as a glow came about them, _"Alright Medusa, let's see what these chains of yours can do! If Caster really is Medea, let's prove it!"_

As the three drew closer, Caster fired off a mass of scatter blasts at them, Illya diving through and returning fire with her own swarm of shots, and while they only impacted the reflection barrier, Eil was able to shoot through while Caster focused on the field, the dark Servant glancing back as Eil got above her, the movements of the weapons in his hands causing the chains to shift, closing in and snaring Caster, Eil smirking as the chains bound tighter while he planted himself on swirling mana platforms.

"Gotcha! Now, let's see if we're right about who you are!" Eil snapped, Caster struggling against the chains, while the image was already forming in his mind, "Class: Catser, Strength: E, Endurance: D, Agility: C, Mana: B, Luck: C, Noble Phantasm: D… True Name: Medea! Hah, we were right! Miyu, she's bound, go for the kill!"

"On it! Lancer, Inclu-" As Miyu was about to ready the Card, she stopped dead when Caster suddenly vanished, Eil grimacing as the chains slacked.

"Knew it, she can teleport! Miyu, turn around now!" Eil snapped, Miyu turning as she slapped the card onto Sapphire to produce the spear, Caster appearing just as Eil had said, though, as Miyu's lips began to move to call the Noble Phantasm, but just as she gripped the spear Caster's staff came around with lightning at the tip that struck Miyu hard, sending the girl downwards and crashing through the roof of the temple.

"Miyu!" Eil and Illya shouted, Eil clicking his tongue as he dodged one of Caster's shots.

"Illya, I'll go find Miyu, keep her busy!" Eil shouted, dropping down, Illya nodding as she swerved past Caster's myriad mana blasts and returned her own, Eil glancing back as he lowered, aiming for the whole in the roof made by Miyu's crash landing, and he looked around when he landed inside, "Miyu?!"

"Over here!" Miyu called out, leaning on one of the supports, and Eil immediately noticed the blood standing one of her leggings, Miyu spotting where his line of sight went as she limped over, "Don't worry about this… the regeneration will handle it."

"Right… we need to be fast though, Illya won't be able to keep Caster busy forever." Eil remarked, looking to Miyu's downtrodden look, "Don't feel bad about not reacting fast enough. We may have saw that possibility coming but what happens in the heat of the moment is different."

"I know." Miyu muttered, both she and Eil flinching when a multide of red lasers honed in on them, "No! We won't be able to avoid in time!"

"Tch… can't believe I'm using it in front of someone where they can see it… Connect, Scutum!" Eil shouted lifting his right arm up, the flaring blue light that emanated from his arm producing five orbs of light that drifted out in front of him, Miyu's eyes going wide as glowing lines connected the orbs as they took a formation, energy then bursting from the shape that had been formed and created a dome like barrier, Eil grimacing as the rain of shots crashed again it, sparking flashes shooting down his extended right arm, the barrier beginning to crack, but, it held out until the torrent stopped, Eil dropping his arm and letting the barrier lower, his breath a bit heavier.

"What… was that?" Miyu murmured, Sapphire moving but totally silent, Eil giving a heavy sigh.

"Sorry Miyu, but I gotta ask you to keep that one a secret." Eil muttered, Miyu taking notice that there was blood dripping from his forearm now, but it didn't seem like he was actually in pain, "What about you? Can you get back in the air?"

"Y-Yes." Miyu said, Eil nodding, the air swirling around his legs again as he shot up, Miyu following suit and launching a blast to get Caster's attention off of Illya, the three shooting upwards and getting above the magic circles so they'd have a clear zone.

"Miyu-san, Eil-san! I'm so glad you're both okay!" Illya said, yelping when she saw the blood on Eil's arm, "What happened?!"

"Ah…" Miyu murmured, keeping quiet however, Eil waving his arm a bit.

"Ah nothing, just uh… got hit by some debris is all, but don't worry I'm fine. Besides I'm ambidextrous." Eil stated, Miyu giving a small sigh of disbelief at his excuse while Illya gave a sigh of relief, actually buying it, "But, we still got _her_ to worry about."

"Yeah. As expected from a Mage from the Age of Gods." Ruby remarked, the fighters looking up to Caster, higher above them even now, Eil balling one of his hands into a fist. "Using teleportation magic is cheating!"

"Well… let's see, we're high enough I doubt Rin or Lluvia could notice, especially past all the magic circles.." Eil muttered, Illya and Miyu looking at him, "Illya, Miyu, you can both keep a secret, right?"

"Uh, y-yes! I'm really good at that!" Illya said, nodding quickly, Miyu tilting her head, Eil giving a chuckle as he gripped his right wrist.

"Good… I can't explain the details right now, but I've got something that can keep Caster from pulling that trick of hers again." Eil stated, flexing his fingers, "Let's say I haven't been entirely _honest_ about what kind of magus I am… again, no time to explain, but… I'm a lot more useful than just being able to create fancy weapons!"

"Alright, so… what's the plan?" Illya said, Miyu leaning in as Eil gave a hum, then snapping his left hand fingers.

"I got it! First off, Miyu, can I see the Lancer Card?" Eil asked, Miyu handing it to him with a nod, Eil humming as he looked it over, then nodding as he gained a small smirk, "Alright, this'll work. First off, we need to get Caster to stay still so I can bind her, Illya, you're good at scatter blasts so find a way to do that. Miyu, once that's taken care of, hit Caster with everything you've got once I've made SURE she's in place. If we're lucky, she might be flimsy enough for it to finish her off!"

"And what if it doesn't?" Miyu said, Eil flashing the Card in his hand.

"We go back to my first idea: Use Gae Bolg. I'm pretty sure I can release it's second effect. Gae Bolg has two uses, one as the spear itself, and the second when it's thrown. Use it like that, and it becomes the _Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death…_ it'll bend reality itself to hit it's mark. Even _if_ she can teleport out of my little trap, she won't be able to dodge this no matter what she tries." Eil said, holding the Card in his left hand, a spark of light coming from his palm before the Card transformed into the red spear.

"Alright, then let's do this!" Illya said, Eil and Miyu nodding, the three shooting off again, Illya's opening shot being stopped by Caster's barrier, MIyu and Eil standing back while Illya dodged the shots coming for her, and since they were directly from Caster and not from dozens of circles, she could weave through without worry of being caught off guard from her blindspots, _"If I can get away from this, I'll have my opening to launch a scatter blast with enough range to keep her from escaping! It won't do damage, but it'll make the opening they need!"_

Illya yelled as she swooped back around and swung Ruby down, Caster teleporting away from the wide area blasts, but each shot bounced off the active reflection field and back up, Illya using her own barrier to block them despite each shot being incredibly weak, and just as planned, Caster had to resort to defense herself to block the rebound.

"Perfect Illya!" Eil shouted, shooting through the air incredibly fast as he closed the gap, raising his right arm again as he launched over Caster, who he saw look up to him, which prompted a smirk as light surged across his arm, "Connect, _Andromeda!"_

As Eil sailed past, sixteen balls of light flew from the surging mana over his arm and arranged themselves around Caster, the stuck in place Servant looking around at the orbs as they rapidly connected to one another, each line proceeding to transform into a glowing chain that then swooped in and bound Caster into place, Eil pumping a fist as he skid to a stop on the air.

"Hell yes! Try and teleport out of those chains, Servant! Those have their origin in another Greek legend, so take _that_ Witch of Betrayal!" Eil snapped, putting his free hand near his mouth, "Miyu, now!"

"Maximum velocity." Miyu murmured, swinging Sapphire high and then forward, a large magic circle appearing, "Shoot!"

The blast Miyu fired rushed forward to the struggling Caster, who combined with the weak blasts pelting her form below and the chains keeping her stuck in place, left no room to try and teleport out again, the blast ripping across the air and piercing the barrier itself, but from the smoke, Caster went flying from it, remarkably still bound tightly.

"Guess I'm using it then huh?" Eil murmured, red energy beginning to surge from the spear in his left hand as he spun it around a few times, lowering into an all-fours stance for a moment before rushing forward, launching higher into the air as he pulled his left arm back as the energy around the spear surged even more, _"Gae Bolg!"_

When the spear was thrown, it became less of a spear and more like a missile of red light as it streaked towards Caster, the red burst turning into a streak of light as it shot downwards towards the temple, the impact blowing away the magic circles and the reflection barrier visibly shattering along with it, the group lifting arms as the impact turned into an explosion, and when the dust cleared one could see a very sizable chunk of the temple was outright _gone_ with a massive crater bearing the impact zone.

"Well… good thing we're in the Mirror World huh?" Eil said, he, Illya, and Miyu lowering down into the crater, Eil nabbing the floating Caster card from the air, "And that's Card number four! Mission accomplished!"

"W… We did it!" Illya cheered, throwing her arms up and twirling around as she bounced on her feet a bit, Eil chuckling at the display as he pocketed the Card, turning to Miyu.

"Nice hustle out there Miyu. We make a pretty team don't we?" Eil said, Miyu only nodding, the white haired young man sighing, "I'll explain that little show of mine later… but, not now… we should probably get out of here first anyway."

"Right. Illya-san, let's go." Miyu said, Illya ceasing her spinning and nodding, the three getting out of the crater as the "barrier" above began cracking, meeting up with Rin and Lluvia back in the square.

"Come on come on let's go! You got the card?" Rin asked, Eil flashing the item with a quick move, "Good!"

"Victory is ours! Ohohohoho!" Lluvia laughed, everyone else just giving her a look while the portal was opened, another flash, and they were back in the real world, "Well, that concludes that then!"

"And thankfully we got it done quickly too. Phew." Rin sighed, Eil nodding.

"Yeah. Well, all's well that ends well, right?" Eil said, though the second he took a step forward, it looked like he almost tripped on nothing as his body suddenly lurched forward, though he was able to catch himself from faceplanting with his arms, "Right… fired off a Noble Phantasm… shoulda seen this coming…"

"Right… WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Rin snapped, yanking Eil by his shirt as he rolled into a sitting position, "Those two using the Cards is one thing, the sticks have an infinite mana supply! I don't care if you have all those stupidly high quality magic circuits, what made you think it was smart to do that?!"

"Well we needed to win, didn't we?" Eil said, looking to the side, "And it sounded like a good idea… at the time."

"Eil-san are you okay?" Illya asked, Rin dropping the boy back to the ground and giving a huff, grumbling incoherently as she stalked off to the side, Eil shaking a hand a bit.

"Mostly… doubt I'm gonna be walking for a bit. Firing that thing off used a lot of mana. I'm frankly surprised I'm still conscious." Eil remarked, rubbing the back of his hand, flailing a bit as his used-for-a-perch arm slipped a tad, "I mean I'll be fine after a bit."

"Being low on mana really does that to people?" Illya remarked, Eil nodding as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, with our business concluded for the night, I believe it is now adieu." Lluvia was already headed for the gate as she spoke, and as Miyu followed her, the quiet girl looked back at Eil and Illya for a moment, following after Lluvia then, Eil flopping back to lay down.

"Man I have a lot to explain soon." Eil grumbled, looking to Rin, "Oi, Rin, you gonna help me out or you gonna keep sulking?"

"I'm not sulking!" Rin snapped, Eil sitting up again, Rin sighing as she pulled him up and pulled one of his arms over his shoulder, "You better be thankful for this… and don't lean so much you're heavy!"

"Hey I'm pretty light for a guy all things considered!" Eil snapped, then Illya trotted up and grabbed his other arm… which admittedly though the sight of it meant Eil was being near dragged by these two girls dealing with the height gap.

"I'll help too!" Illya said, Rin and Eil just shrugging as they started down the steps, "Uh… but, we're not gonna have to do this the whole way right?"

"I'll call Eil's butler so he can come and pick us up, at least once we're down these steps." Rin stated, Illya just giving a hum, the rest of the trek down silent until they reached the street, Eil barely avoiding dropping hard as Rin proceeded to let him go, Illya flailing from the sudden shift in weight.

"Thanks a lot." Eil grumbled, rubbing his tail bone a bit as Rin walked off a bit, pulling a flip phone out of her pocket (which again begged the question where she even _had_ pockets on her outfit), Illya sitting down next to Eil and leaning on her hands, "You don't have to stick around y'know?"

"I know I just… feel like it's more polite if I wait a bit." Illya said, "You can't move much so, y'know?"

"Ah." Eil said, things going silent, Illya's feet shuffling while one could hear Rin's incoherent, angry grumbling a ways off as she started jabbing her fingers on her phone's keypad.

"Hey, hey, Illya-san!" Ruby flitted up at Illya, speaking in a whisper as she tapped the girl with one of her feathers, "There is actually a way to make this easier: Just give Eil some of your mana! I can do a partial trance to link you to me so you don't run out too!"

"I can do that?" Illya asked, Ruby giving an affirmative nod, "Okay then, how?"

"Kiss him!"

"Eh?"

"And it can't just be a peck! It has to be deep, wet, _hard!"_ Ruby said, Illya then grabbing the stick after glancing at Eil to make sure he wasn't listening.

"What are you saying?! Why would I need to do that to give him mana?!" Illya snapped, gripping Ruby tightly.

"Mana transfer is most effective through fluids." Ruby remarked, Illya giving as quiet a yelp as she could manage, Ruby chuckling, "There is a better method but that's not quite something one should do in public."

"You perverted stick!" Illya shouted.

"It's true though! Why do you think magi can use blood as a catalyst?" Ruby remarked, Illya stopping herself from throwing Ruby into the dirt as she was planning to do. "Besides you're not against it are you? I can tellll! I mean Eil is a perfectly _strapping_ young man after all, why would a cute girl such as you not find the thought interesting?"

"Don't put words into my mouth!" Illya shrieked, her face nearly as red as her magical girl outfit, though as her grip was starting to crush Ruby, to the sticks clear discomfort. It wasn't like Illya _didn't_ think Eil was attractive, quite the opposite really. _"He does look cute… and his lips do look like they'd be soft… I mean, it'd just be for a few moments wouldn't it? J-Just long enough to give him a bit of mana so he can move again… y-yeah, that's it, it's just mana transfer, s-so there's nothing wrong with it… BUT WAIT IT'D BE MY FIRST KISS! I thought my first would be in a more romantic situation, not something like this! I mean I doubt it'd be bad but-AHHHH!"_

"Uh… Illya are you okay over there?" Eil spoke as he notice Illya's face almost steaming as she was twitching about a bit, the girl shooting around and putting her arms behind her back, Ruby still in a death grip.

"P-Perfectly fine!" Illya responded, "Though uh… if it's hard to move cause you're low on mana… wouldn't it be good if, I'dunno, you replenished it a bit."

"Well that's all a matter of waiting." Eil responded, fiddling with a strand of his hair, "I have pretty deep reserves all things taken into account, but firing off a Noble Phantasm like that is kind of… taxing, to say the least… and hey, Rin, how long is it gonna take you? It's a flip phone, it's not that complicated!"

"Shut up, I'm getting it, so sit tight!" Rin snapped in reply, Eil putting a hand over his eyes as Rin went back to her grumbling.

"I swear teaching her to use a phone is like teaching… I actually don't have a comparison for that." Eil muttered, lifting a leg, which promptly fell back down like it had a weight on it, to his obvious annoyance, and Illya shuffled her feet a bit, letting out a breath.

"Well… what if I gave you a bit of mana? Would… would that help?" Illya asked, and when she glanced over, she was surprised to see Eil's face had become starkly red even if he looked to have barely reacted, "I-I mean, Ruby mentioned it could help out if I just... k-kissed you a bit and all…"

"W-Well… I mean it's a perfectly practical option here but…" Eil muttered, looking to the side as he put a hand over his mouth, "Would you really wanna do that? I-I mean not that I don't like, think you're cute or anything… wait, no, I mean, you _are_ cute, but… uh… geez what's my point here? Ah, well, I'm asking if you're really okay with that!"

" _Cute! He said he thinks I'm cute!"_ Illya put her hands to her face as a sudden rush of joy overcame her her, then he cleared her throat to try and sound proper, but she was blushing just as hard, "I suppose I am… it's practical isn't it?"

"True but that's not what I meant." Eil said, a dull silence happening as the two could only stare at each other, and Ruby could then be heard giving a grumble.

"Uhh… I can't take this awkwardness! Just get to it already!" Ruby yelped, getting free of Illya's grip and shoving herself into the girl's back, Illya yelping as she was sent reeling forward, Eil yelping as Illya's failed attempt at steadying herself brought her crashing down on top of him.

 _ **Chu**_

Ruby, on her end, pumped one of her feathers like a fist at the sight that had been produced. Illya's tumble brought her falling right on top of Eil, and that _very conveniently,_ hadbrought their lips crashing onto one another, both teens stuck in place with eyes wide in shock.

"Oh ho ho ho! That's choice, classic, classic!" Ruby declared, snapping sounds in the air as she flitted about the stuck in place pair, "The position is perfect, the way Illya-san's curves press in is amazing, the smallest hint of something ebbing out between the lock… ahh who knew even an accident could produce amazing results!"

"Okay I made the call and… w-what's going on here?!" Rin turned around in time to see the sudden happening, blinking a bit as if making sure she wasn't seeing things, Illya promptly shooting up and grabbing Ruby.

"It's not what you may be thinking!" Illya yelped, Eil sitting up a bit more slowly, "This stupid stick shoved me and I fell on top of him!"

"O-Of course…" Rin murmured, an eye twitching as she was still processing what she'd just seen. Illya had also proceeded to start stomping Ruby into the concrete repeatedly, the continuous poundings leaving a Ruby shaped dent in the sidewalk.

"Stupid freakin stick making that happen! I wanted something better than that and you just shove me?!" Illya snapped, Ruby yelping repeatedly.

"But I mean you looked like you were enjoying it quite a bit-YEEOOWWW!" Ruby then got grabbed again and yanked over, Illya stopping only when she heard movement, Eil standing up, and looking a bit surprised as well.

"Wow, it worked." Eil hummed, tracing a thumb across his lower lip, _"It was soft and… really warm… but… Illya's mana is actually really strong, I think about the same as mine. So, it can't just be a coincidence her name is Einzbern…"_

"Wait, was that a mana transfer?" Rin asked, Eil tilting a hand.

"Ruby suggested it and we were sorting it out… then Ruby pushed me." Illya said, still gripping Ruby in a well deserved death hold with her right hand, even as her face flushed in embarrassment, "I-I'm really sorry!"

"Don't worry… besides it was my first too." Eil murmured, looking to the side, Rin giving a sigh.

"Why did this suddenly got all sugary…" Rin murmured, putting a hand to her head as all Eil and Illya could do was blush and avoid each other's gazes.

* * *

"Oi, Oretensia, you in today or am I just talking to the air again?" Eil peered in through the doors of the church as he spoke, cautiously making his way in as he looked around, wary of the potential chance he could get snared by that holy cloth again. "Helloooo?"

"You called?"

"AGH!"

Eil jumped a bit as the voice came from behind him, turning around to see Caren having appeared seemingly from nowhere, the girl giving a notable little snicker to the young man's surprise.

"Well, good to know I can surprise you." Caren mused, folding her arms, "So I take it you lot already got the next Card… already."

"Again, we work fast." Eil stated, pulling the Caster Card out of his pocket, Caren humming.

"Catser hmm?" The white haired girl said, stepping in front of Eil and past the podium, "We'll talk in the study this time… better than an open chapel where someone could listen in right?"

"Point." Eil said, following Caren out of the chapel and into a room off to the side of things, finding himself in a surprisingly well furnished room with a sofa and a couple of chairs arranged around a table, Caren taking the sofa, Eil taking one of the chairs.

"So, who was it this time? Not that I care, but, reports you know." Caren leaned on the arm of the couch as she spoke, Eil sighing as he leaned back.

"Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, Princess of Cholcis, whatever you wanna say." Eil replied, "So we had to contest with magecraft from the Age of Gods itself. We actually had to take a rematch against her after getting some practice in… considering the two stick users didn't know how to fly at the time."

"I see." Caren hummed, jotting down some things onto a notepad, sticking the pen against her lips, "Mind me asking, since this Caster was using _that_ kind of magic, if you had to use _that?_ I imagine fighting Servants means you'll be able to avoid if forever, eh, heretic boy?"

" _I could just fib it but I really don't wanna get snared by that cloth again… those eyes are saying she'll use it if she has to."_ Eil muttered, feeling just the smallest bit of pressure from Caren as she patiently awaited his anger, the young man sighing, "Yeah I did. Lucky for me I was able to use a few of those spells without my Association fellows seeing… of course, that was now. Depending on who we face next, there may not be much of a choice for me in whether or not I do use it."

"Right… let's see, all that's left for your little group to take down would be… Assassin, Saber, and Berserker… would you say it's lucky or unlucky your strongest foes are going to be some of the last you face?" Caren said, Eil sinking further into the chair.

"I'd say lucky… we're going to have to do some extra training to prepare for Saber and Berserker… even if we're on a time limit we can't just jump into those fights like we have before. Assassin maybe, depending on who it is." Eil replied, picking at the bandages on his right arm.

"Well maybe you'll show up with some amusing injuries after some of those." Caren said, Eil's eye twitching a bit at the statement, Caren then shifting over and grabbing Eil's right arm, moving his jacket's sleeve up to reveal the bandages, "Hmm. This happened because of a slight mana overload. I bet is was one of your family's fancy little constellation spells."

"You're not wrong." Eil muttered, _"How did she know how my arm got hurt from that?"_

"Pain from others interests me." Caren stated, running a finger down Eil's bandaged forearm, "Since I experience it so regularly, I've grown more than a little numb to those kinds of sensations, but they still remain. However… those who go through pain in the path to achieve something are those I find most interesting."

" _What is she an M or something?"_ Eil thought, trying to pull his hand back, only for his wrist to get tightly gripped.

"And then there's you, Eil Coltheart." Caren stated, leaning up and getting right in Eil's face, eye to eye, "You also make my "condition" irritated… but unlike these distortions it _doesn't_ cause me pain, and I find that odd. Whenever I start having these sensations it's always followed by the pain it causes… yet somehow your presence doesn't. It's only stimulation."

"I… don't have an answer to that." Eil stated, trying to shrink away but failing too considering he was already as deep in as the chair would allow, "Also can you place get out of my face? This is more than a little awkward."

"Suit yourself." Caren hummed, pulling back and sitting on the couch again, Eil letting out a relieved sigh as he felt himself relax a bit, "Anything else, or do you have some business to run and do again?"

"Neither." Eil said, standing up and pocketing his hands, "Pretty much have the rest of the day to do what I want with."

"Ohh? And what, you're too good to keep a lonely priestess company for a bit longer?" Caren remarked, Eil catching the teasing smirk that came to her face as she leaned on her left hand, Eil giving an amused sounding snicker.

"Well don't get me wrong you're cute, I'm just worried you'll try something fishy." Eil said, though soon as he took a step, that darned red cloth flared out from under the chair and snared his legs, tripping the young man and causing him to nearly face plan, Eil looking back to see Caren tugging on the other end of the cloth with an amused look on her face, "Seriously?"

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd be so caught off guard from that twice." Caren teased, a pull of the cloth making it retreat, Eil standing back up and dusting himself off, "Now I wonder if it'll work a third time… hmm, perhaps I'll see once you return with the next Card."

"Yeah we'll see." Eil said, walking to the door backwards to keep his eyes on Caren, reaching for the handle and missing a couple of times before he got it, keeping the look on the priestess as he slid out, only getting a dainty wave in return as he shut the door, Eil sighing once it was closed, "I do not understand that girl… part of me doesn't even want to."

Eil just sighed and put his arms behind his head as he exited the chapel, though once he got out he felt a sudden twinge at the base of his neck.

"So this is what Sapphire meant when she said you have another contact." Eil looked back to see Miyu stepping into his vision from behind one of the nearby pillars, "The Church is involved too?"

" _Well now it makes sense why Caren wanted to go into the other room."_ Eil murmured, sighing, "This is about last night isn't it?"

"Yes. I want answers… or, to be more precise, we _both_ want answers." Miyu said, Eil raising a brow, a hand coming to his face as Illya peered out from behind another pillar, the red-eyed girl giving a nervous little wave.

"Uh, h-hi Eil-san, nice day huh?" Illya said, her chuckle leading her to hang her head, "I'm sorry, but we both actually kind of followed you here."

"Ah geez… I knew this was coming eventually but dammit, I'd at least hoped it'd be _after_ I actually had to be more open with it…" Eil grumbled, his arms lowering as he sighed. "Alright, no point being secretive about it with you two I guess… not like you're with the Association so frankly I don't actually _have to."_

"W-We did both agree to keep the secret… whatever it, well, is." Illya remarked, Miyu nodding in return to the statement, "I-I mean we don't mean to pry but… you know, we're curious."

"Not to mention the fact it's a strange sort of magic you used back there." Miyu remarked, "Scutum, Andromeda… and the way those balls of light arranged and connected. It's constellations."

"Well you're right about that." Eil stated, sighing again, "Come on, I'll tell you two once we get back to my place… you better be in for a long story, cause I've got _a lot_ to say about this."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And what could this be,** _ **pray tell?**_ **Well you'll find out next time! Now I wonder who caught the hints leading up to this stuff till now. Hehehe.**


	7. Chapter 7

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 7: Child of the Stars**

" _Why are we at a karaoke bar?"_ Illya couldn't help but find the situation odd as she looked around the room. Eil had taken her and Miyu there after they'd confronted him at the church, though it didn't make a lot of sense why he'd want to explain things in a karaoke room of all place, _"Wait… but what if it's a super-secret thing? He did ask us to stay… wait is this something dangerous?! Would we be better off not knowing?!"_

"Alright… so, just to be sure, you two are ready for a pretty long explanation, yeah?" Eil folded his arms as he spoke, Miyu nodding firmly while Illya was a tad more hesitant about it, Eil looking to Ruby and Sapphire, "Sapphire, Ruby, this doesn't leave this room, understood? The old man saw this coming eventually, but until I actually _have_ to use "it" in front of Rin and Lluvia, please keep it quiet."

"Well not like I'd tell her anyway. But, you've got it!" Ruby said, giving a salute.

"Of course Master. You don't have anything to worry about." Sapphire said, Eil nodding.

" _Wow this sounds serious."_ Illya thought, Eil cracking his knuckles as he took a few breaths to relax himself.

"Alright then… let me start off by telling you two my real name." Eil said, Miyu and Illya raising a brow each, "Well, okay, Eil is actually just a shorthand nickname I go by. Coltheart is actually a magus family though… but it's a branch family from my _real_ family. My actual name is Eilwyn Zima la Zvezda, and I'm actually from Russia."

"Zvezda… it's Russian for star." Miyu murmured, "And that magecraft you used… it also formed as constellations."

"I'll get to that, but my family situation is kind of… well, it's a _thing."_ Eil said, leaning on a hand, "The Zvezdas are a really long running line of magi, on par with families like the Fragas and Animuspheres… I realize those names probably don't mean anything to you two, but for magi lineage is kind of a big deal."

"Really? It sounds… weird, kind of." Illya murmured, a finger on her chin, "Though… I guess it couldn't come up because of the situation going on right now would it?"

"Yeah." Eil said, running a finger along the rim of the glass near him, "Though, here's the thing. The fact I'm a Zvezda is a secret from everyone in the Clocktower besides Zelretch and our mission advisor, Lord El Melloi II. This secret is being kept for one reason: We Zvezdas are heretics under the laws of the Association's magi."

"Eh?" Illya felt her mental processes grind to a halt, though Miyu spoke up.

"Heretics… why would a heretic want to study at the Clocktower though?" Miyu asked, Eil sighing as a bitter chuckle left him.

"I'd prefer you not say I'm a heretic in such a deadpan tone." Eil muttered, leaning back as he sighed, "Now, this is kind of why I needed you two to be prepared for a long explanation. Because to explain that, I have to explain what the overall mission of the average magus _is._ You see, there's an element in the world you two probably know more commonly as the Akashic Records, right?" he got nods in response to that, "Well, to a magus, we call it the Root. For most magus, the pursuit of magecraft is the pursuit of the Root, to try and create a method in which one can reach the Root and gain even a small piece of the infinite knowledge of its records. The problem is though, the Associaiton is _picky_ about how one goes about this. They don't like to be left out of the loop, so they downright demand the methods a magus creates can be replicated through study. While bloodline traits are accepted, it's because those can be passed down, and potentially spread as well if bloodlines mingle. But, if a magus starts coming up with a method to reach Akasha that simply can't be replicated, such as through a Reality Marble like method, it doesn't fly with them. Magus who achieve things like this receive the _dubious_ honor of reveing what's called a Sealing Designation… and become eternal targets until they can be locked away and studied, the vital Magic Crest being stored and used as an experiment."

"Okay… uhm, what's a Magic Crest?" Illya asked, raising a hand.

"A Magic Crest is like a record of a bloodline's achievements." Miyu stated, her hands folded on her lap, "It contains the knowledge of every spell they've learned or developed over the course of each owner's life. A vital part of an heir's training is progressively receiving more and more of the Magic Crest from their holding parent until it's been fully passed on to them."

"Oh. Soo… that means it's kind of like a family diary of some kind, one that's passed down and added onto with each generation." Illya said, Eil shrugging, "Wait, but what about those bloodline traits?"

"We call those Sorcery Traits." Eil stated, "Lluvia's family, the Edelfelts for example, possesses one called Ore Scales, or "Sisters". The Edelfelts are the only magus family capable of passing their magic crest on to more than one heir, while others, even mine, are kept to having to bear a single child to pass the Crest onto. And with that… I can finally explain _why_ the Zvezdas are called heretics. See, it's not like we've actually ever done anything to break any rules… my ancestors just happened to develop a powerful magecraft that was close to True Magic… but is only usable with our Sorcery Trait, which we named the school itself after: Asterism."

"Wait… but, if doing that would make this happen, then why would they make this magecraft? If they were trying to reach Akasha then why make a magecraft like that?" Illya asked, Eil chuckling as he leaned on his knees.

"Well that's the other thing." He said, a small ball of light forming at the tip of his right index fingers, "We were also declared heretics for that exact reason. My Ancestors created Asterism because they _didn't_ want to reach Akasha. Rather than trying to gain even a bit of the infinite knowledge of the past in order to become a True Sorcerer, those who came before me instead decided their aim was the future, not the past. And so, with the abilities our developed Sorcery Trait granted, we Zvezdas went from mere stargazers to being able to create Mysteries of our own inspired by the constellations of the skies and the stars they make up."

"And because your very Sorcery Trait is the core of this magecraft, and the fact magi can only bear one heir safely to pass that knowledge on to… the Association then chose to declare your family heretics instead of allowing further improvement?" Miyu said, seeming a bit confused at the idea of it. To her the thought sounded downright alien. Exiling a long running and powerful clan because they achieved greatness over generations of improvement and study? All because that knowledge was impossible to spread as widely as would be demanded of them? It was mind numbing to try and process.

"That's the sad truth of it though. They couldn't just throw people at the current heir to try and make the Trait spread, so instead they tried to cut us off entirely. Had the Association had their way I'm sure they would've long since locked away my ancestor who was the current heir when this designation was put onto us. But, we weren't so easy to get. When this happened, my family cut almost all ties except with some of their most trusted allies in the Clocktower and hid away deep within the Russian snowfields." Eil let out a sigh, then chuckling, flicking away the ball of light, "Something kind of ironic though is, the Colthert branch family's _Creation_ is actually an application of Asterism. But, because it was based on the so called "useless" school of _Projection,_ it flew right under their noses."

"So that's why you can do something like replicate a Noble Phantasm, even if it's weaker." Miyu noted, Eil nodding.

"Correct. Asterism is capable of drawing on ether, so when applied into something like Projection, it becomes harder for the World to reject it, as technically, using ether to draw out the Phantasm and crystalize it bypasses Equivalent Exchange." Eil said, "But back on topic… actually, there's another irony to this entire thing. The entire goal of magecraft is "make the impossible possible", to recreate the Mysteries that faded from the World when the Age of Gods came to an end. But, those who run the Association throw a fit whenever someone actually does achieve that, declaring them "problems" if they don't immediately give in and become a damn lab rat for them to study at their leisure."

"Sounds bad. Really bad." Illya remarked. She couldn't say anything. The flood of information was more than a little overwhelming for her at the time, her head was downright spinning. But all the same, she was determined to listen and make full sense of these answers she was getting about who the young man in front of her really was.

"The worst part is, Sealing Designations like the one my family has are called a "highest honor" given in the name of "preserving" the special talents and traits of those who developed them." Eil's bitter tone however was laced with absolutely snarling sarcasm at the mere _idea_ such a thing couple possibly be considered some kind of honor, "They're so damn fixated on "preservation" and control they forget what magi even _do_ in the first place. Not to mention the Clocktower's problem is that so many of them are fixated only on the past. Attaining Mysteries from the Age of Gods, claiming the Magics lost during the change in Ages, so on…"

"Yes but Master, do not forget your Mentor is one of those mages who attained the use of True Magic." Sapphire said.

"Yeah but Old Man Zelretch is different." Eil said, "He's been acquainted with the Zvezdas for a very long time, heck he's the reason I can even _attend_ school at the Clocktower and keep my cover, what with all the power struggles constantly going on in the damn place. But even as a magus who became a True Sorcerer, he views things different precisely _because_ of that. But, well, that's a topic for another time."

"So then, what about your magecraft, this Asterism? You said it's based on constellations, which entirely have their basis in the past and legends. That's not much different than what your typical magi does." Miyu remarked, Eil putting a hand behind his head.

"True, but also not quite." Eil's statement got Miyu to raise a brow, the young man chuckling, "While yes, most of our known constellations come from the sources of Greek legends marking them in the sky, and adding their own stories, what Asterism does is more draw on the actualized traits of said constellation. Asterism crystalizes power sourced from the interpretation of the connected stars, not actually the legend itself. Take for example Andromeda. In legend she's not that famous besides being the wife of Perseus and the whole chained to a rock thing. But as that's what her constellation represents, Asterism actualizes the associated spell as a powerful binding spell."

"I'm not quite following." Miyu remarked, and Illya about had smoke coming from the top of her head.

"Okay, let me put it this way. Asterism doesn't base itself on the story nor the legend of the Constellations. It bases itself on the _concepts_ they embody. Take the Zodiac signs for example, which the more modern meaning have their place taken not from the Greek basis of the constellations, but instead the interpretations of them as the idea of what the Zodiac even is." Eil said, both girls nodding, "Say for example I used _Leo_ or _Sagittarius,_ the spell would have effects relating to their conceptualizations as members of the Zodiac rather than as Greek stories. _Leo_ is like an advanced kind of strength enhancement, just to give an example… might actually have to use that one actually."

"So, then was the method you were using to step in the air like I was also a usage of Asterism?" Miyu asked, Eil nodding.

"Yes, actually. I was using _Pegasus_ to do that. Though in actual application it's actually a flight spell, I can tone it done to do that instead. I didn't use it properly for, well, obvious reasons." Eil remarked, Illya giving a bit of a sigh.

" _Yeah I'm sure if Rin-san and Lluvia-san saw him flying they'd have all sorts of questions."_ Illya thought, "Uh, so, since it is based on concepts, doesn't that still mean some of those other ones apply to them?"

"Of course. I actually had half a mind to use _Perseus_ when we were fighting Rider. The idea was, since Perseus' legend is closely tied, or, heck, _defined_ by him slaying the Gorgon, channeling the concept of "Perseus" would likely have some kind of effect on Rider, since she was Medusa, even if a version from before she truly became the Gorgon."

"And I think I'm starting to understand what you mean." Miyu stated, a hand on her chin, "While it's basis is of course in concepts of the past, creating anything comes from that reasoning… to some it may sound hypocritical, but it really isn't. You're just moving forward without looking back."

"My family's saying is "A Zvezda is guided by the Asterisms which paint the sky. Take a star as your guide, and follow it forwards into our future." The kind of stupidly idealistic saying of a stargazer, but one that's gotten us to where we are."

"Now what I don't understand is how, without connections to the Association or Clocktower, how the Zvezdas could even continue their research." Miyu said, Eil looking to the side as a sound left his throat.

"I uh… actually don't know that one. My family is crazy rich, and we've interact with a lot of people over the course of history… but I never understood exactly where that fortune precisely came from." Eil put a hand on his chin, a low hum coming from his throat, "My dad tends to be out on expeditions a lot, though I don't know what it is he actually _does."_

"So… is that about it?" Miyu asked, Eil nodding.

"Yeah. Not really sure what else there is that I could all to this. Being totally honest I still have a lot of things to learn about my own family and what Asterism is actually capable of in the long run." Eil said, twirling a bit of his hair, "So, yeah, nothing more to say on that matter."

"So just remember, unless it comes up while we're gathering the cards, keep this quiet with Rin-san and Lluvia-san!" Ruby cautioned, waving her "feathers" a bit.

"The fact Master Eil is of the Zvezda bloodline is a well-kept secret. It would be dangerous if word about his true origins somehow reached the Association." Sapphire said, "Though they have not looked into it since Father has taken him on as a student… which is usually a dangerous venture for those who seek tutelage under the Great Father."

"Uwaahhh… sounds scary." Illya murmured, Eil flipping a hand back and forth.

"Well he's thrown me into a couple alternate dimensions for kicks once or twice but otherwise he hasn't abjectly done anything too dangerous to my health."

"That sounds exactly like something that's dangerous to one's health!" Illya yelped, Eil just shrugging, "Ah man, the world of mages really is a complicated one."

"Actually, there's something else I wanted to bring up, Illya." Eil said, the girl's attention turning to him as he took a moment, "Your surname is Einzbern… I'm curious because, well, being completely straight with you, that name has a lot of weight for magi… do you really not know who your family is?"

"Eh? Well, I mean I know my family were German nobility but, mages? Come on that just sounds silly doesn't it? Well, okay, no let me correct that, it came out wrong. I guess you could say it's just… odd. I mean, my parents are magi, and as far as I know I don't have any other relatives on either side of my parents' family." Illya said, Eil raising a brow.

"Okay… so, just to ask… what are your parents' names?" Eil asked, Illya humming.

"Well, I actually use my mom's surname as it is. Her name is Irisviel von Einzbern… and my father's name is Kiritsugu Emiya." Illya said, Eil _and_ Miyu going wide eyed at the uttering of the man's name.

" _Kiritsugu Emiya?! That… the Magus Killer? Illya's father is that man?!"_ Eil's face was abjectly one of shock, though compared to it, Illya seemed more than a little confused.

"What? Is something wrong?"

" _And she's entirely unaware!"_ Eil mentally yelped, his head tilting as he chuckled awkwardly, "Not really… so uh, since we are here and have some more time… w-what about actually doing some karaoke huh?"

"Sure!" Illya said, suddenly enthusiastic at the idea, shooting up, grabbing the nearby tablet, "Now let's see here…"

" _Things just got a_ lot _more complicated…"_ Eil thought giving a sigh as a hand came to his face.

* * *

Rin was silently flipping through some notes as she mulled on what their next plans were. With only three locations left to gather the remaining Cards, it meant that more meticulous planning was becoming an absolute necessity since they could actually start narrowing down their potential foes even more to three precise possibilities.

"Hmm, while it's impossible to know the size of the distortion until we enter, maybe there's a way to at least figure out the Class of the Card before entering…" Rin stuck her pent on her lip as she hummed, and she looked up when the door slid open, Eil shuffling in and sitting down heavily, "Well, you look like you've just seen something scary."

"You could say that." Eil muttered, leaning his hands on the table, "So… you know how Illya's last name is Einzbern? You've found that suspect too right?"

"Well of course I have. But nobody's heard from the Einzberns in over a decade. For all we know it could just be a coincidence." Rin said, looking back to her notes, Eil giving a dry chuckle.

"After today I'm not too sure… cause I just learned something very interesting about Illya." Eil said, tapping a finger a bit, Rin looking at him with a raised brow, the boy giving a sigh, "But first, promise me it won't leave the room, alright?"

"Uh… yeah, sure."

"Illya's father is Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer himself."

"WHAT?!" Rin snapped, shooting upright, Eil nodding.

"And if you work off of that information, then the idea of her surname being Einzbern stops sounding like a coincidence. She really is a scion of that family." Eil remarked, grumbling a bit, "Which would explain why she has so much potential, but it still raises even more questions… she's entirely unaware of the fact the Einzbern family is a magus clan, or the fact her father is, or was, someone who hunted down rouge magi as a business."

"That… makes almost too much sense." Rin murmured, tenting her hands, "But then… what do we even do with this?"

"Nothing. Not like we can, and Illya told me when I asked her folks travel a lot… but there is always the chance they could suddenly come back… meeting them would probably just confirm all of this." Eil said, his finger still tapping a bit, "Man this is all suddenly so insane… first those Cards, _now_ we happen to stumble on the Einzbern scion? What's even going on?"

"That's a question for the ages, isn't it?" Rin muttered, both sighing and hanging their heads, "Well… I at least decided where we're going tomorrow… the bridge."

"Well, this'll be interesting. Let's see where our luck takes us." Eil said, a hand on his chin, "Assassin, Saber, or Berserker… which one is it going to be?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Shorter than the other chapters sure but I don't really mind. I like the content in this one but dang was it a thing to get through. Good thing I've been thinking about this stuff for a good long while though!**


	8. Chapter 8

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 8: Battle at the Bridge**

"Alright, battle number three, we ready?"

Eil hopped off the bench he'd been sitting on as the full group had finally gathered at the walkway at the river, the massive bridge connecting the two parts of Fuyuki city striking an imposing sight above the five teenagers, the street lights providing decent illumination for such a late time in the night.

"We don't know who this Card is, as usual." Eil stated, rubbing his wrist, "If it's Assassin, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about. But, if the foe ends up being Saber or Berserker, and the fight starts going south, let's not try to be heroes alright? We pull out, and try to form a plan from what we can gather."

" _Especially_ if it's Berserker." Rin added, "If it _does_ end up being that one, then it's good this is an open space. Hopefully we can get lucky and observe from afar so it goesn't aggro onto us. Eil would be able to identify it and then we could plan before it tries to jump us."

"In whatever case, once the fighting starts, there should be a degree of caution, even with Assassin." Lluvia said, to the apparent surprise of Illya, "Now, let us begin!"

"Ruby, Sapphire, if you would." Eil said, stepping near Illya and Rin as the sticks began chanting while their holders held them level. With the characteristic flash, they were again in the Mirror world. Devoid of the lights from the street lamps, only the unnatural glow of the space illuminating the dark area.

"Alright, now where are you gonna show up at?" Eil stepped to the bank of the walkway and looked out across the river. The space was large enough to reach the opposite side of the bridge and still move into the town. While this was the approximate area of the Card itself, he still kept a wary eye for where it could appear. Especially if, like Caster, it had already manifested.

"Uh… Eil, I think it's here." Illya backed away a bit as she turned to face a noise that hit her ears, a loud clanking noise coming from heavy steps.

The entire group turned at Illya's statement, coming face to face with a figure covered in a dense aura of black that nearly made it impossible to see them clearly, but some traits were visible. They were small, just around the same size as Illya and Miyu. Armor covered them almost from head to toe, all of it black with vein like red markings, and a red visor covered the figure's eyes. In the figures hand was an equally dark sword also marked in red, itself bearing it's own ominous aura around it.

"What the… I can't read anything from it!" Eil yelped, stepping back on instinct, "But if I had to guess… odds are… this is Saber. We may want to run. _Now."_

"Yeah, let's!" Rin shouted, everyone starting to retreat.

" _Man I'm about to do something stupid!"_ Eil slammed his foot onto the ground as the others shot back, Saber raising their blade up high as a pulse of dark power rushed across is, Eil's magic circuits lighting up across his left arm as he raised it in front of him, "Connect, _Scutum!"_

 _ **BWOOM!**_

A booming, cracking noise split the air as Saber's sword came down, a swathe of dark energy following it and crashing into the barrier Eil raised. Even as a myriad of cracks shot across the bounded field while the shockwave blew the others back, it managed to hold up against the blow.

"Heh… well… figured it'd happen at some point." Eil said, his left arm dropping, and Illya's eyes went wide as she saw a line of blood flow from the cuff of his sleeve and down his finger. Rin and Lluvia were, on the other hand, staring at Eil in shock as he panted, the barrier falling like shattered glass. "Damn… wasn't as bad as Caster… still fucking hurt!"

"What the… Eil, you're…" Rin mutted, Eil clenching his left hand.

"That doesn't matter right now! Rin, Lluvia, get back! Not to sound like an ass, but you two are gonna be useless against a Saber! Though I probably won't be much use against them either… not so long as that aura is there." Eil then turned around, but enough to keep an eye on Saber, "Illya, Miyu, we have two options. Beat her in an instant, or we scram and come back later."

"W-What about that spear?" Illya asked, Miyu giving a wary look.

"It's possible, but we'd need some kind of opening. That aura… it's making me feel uneasu." Miyu said, her hand tightening around Sapphire's shaft, "And we still haven't tried Caster yet either."

"Tch, we should at least try something before running!" Rin snapped.

It seemed Saber had gotten tired of standing around while the group talked, because he lifted her sword and swung it, a swathe of dark mana bursting from the blade and rushing towards the five, Eil pulling Rin and Lluvia out of the way while Illya and Miyu leapt in the other direction.

"Shoot!" Miyu waved her staff forward as she formed platforms at her feet to get an immediate foothold. Her blast rushed past the falling wall of mana and right at Saber. The aura around the Servant however, rose into a sphere that stopped the shot dead, even as Miyu held it in an attempt to overpower the barrier, though the blast soon dissipated, the mist like orb around Saber fading, the Servant's attention turning to Miyu, "It didn't connect?! Did that mist stop it?"

"I know it looks like mist, but it's not." Eil said, images starting to run through his mind before the aura rose up around Saber again, causing him to click his tongue, "It's high density mana, and worst point of it, it's pulling off of Saber's natural magic resistance. If it can stop a shot from a Kaleidostick dead, then even in this state, that ability must have a rank of at least A."

"So anything we throw at it won't get through?!" Rin yelped.

"Well, in terms of magic blasts and the like anyway… at least so long as she can pull that barrier up." Eil grumbled.

"He's right!" Ruby said, yanking Illya over, "It's a super dense mist of mana. It's like an impenetrable barrier!"

"It will only continue to reflect our attacks unless we can break through it. It's risky to do so against a Saber, but, I suggest a close range fight." Sapphire stated, "Miyu-sama?"

"On it." Miyu nodded and pulled out the Lancer Card, Eil clicking his tongue again.

"I'll back you up. I've been wanting to try something out anyway." Eil said, lifting his right hand, " _Reforge! Gae Dearg Alternative!"_

A flash of red formed from Eil's palm that formed into a two meter long spear. Shorter than the Gae Bolg in Miyu's hands, but the same kind of glaring red, but with a smoother spear tip and rose like engravings across it.

"Another one?" Lluvia yelped, Eil nodding as he spun the spear into a proper hold.

"It's not very powerful, but, Gae Dearg is actually pretty useful. The tip can cut through prana. I doubt it'll easily pierce that barrier, but I bet I can chip away at it. But, hopes up, maybe I can at least get _through,_ even if it won't bust." Eil stated, Illya stepping up next to him and Miyu, "Illya?"

"I don't really know a lot about how to fight up close, but, I'll help. I can distract her with blasts so you and Miyu can get in close!" Illya said, though Eil noticed she was shaking a bit as she gripped Ruby, "I can dodge those blasts from her sword, no problem!"

"Alright. Rin, Lluvia?"

"Yeah uh… we'll do what you said and hang back here!" Rin and Lluvia were already at the tree line and in cover, Eil just sighing.

"Well least they're out of the way. Let's go!"

Miyu and Illya nodded as Eil led the charge. Illya shot first with a large blast of energy, and while Saber's mist stopped it dead, it kept her in place as more mist swirled at her sword. The retaliating shot was promptly dodged, Illya tracing it as the blast flew off and crashed into the border of the area.

"Connect, _Pegasus, Leo!"_ Eil's shout brought wind to swirl around his legs and flames around his arms, and he shot down the path of the scar in the ground, shoving the spear in his hand forward as he drew close. While Saber's barrier blocked it, the spear head cut into it and passed through, forcing Saber to deflect the blow with her sword, Eil smirking as he skid to a stop behind Saber and shot back in. "Now I know it can get through, even if by a little bit!"

Eil jabbed the spear forward another time, and again the barrier, now closer to Saber's body, failed to defend from the strike. The Servant dodged and attempted to strike back, Eil ducking and returning with a jab of his own, Saber's next attempt at a retaliating slash stopping when a blast came from behind and struck the barrier. The Servant turned again and launched a blast at Illya, who dived to the side to avoid it.

"Miyu now!" Eil shouted, shooting away as Saber slashed at him, barely avoiding losing his head by the slimmest margin as he ducked.

"Here we go… _Gae Bolg!"_ Miyu shouted, shooting forward with the spear in hand as it gleamed red and rushed right for Saber. The moment felt like it slowed down the closer Miyu got, the tip of the spear closing in on target for the heart. Closer, and closer… if it pierced, then this fight would be over immediately.

But, it seemed fate had other plans. Saber's sword shot up and moved the spear off course, and even as it reeled back as it's passive distortion effected kicked in, Saber moved again. And rather than the heart, the tip of the spear merely slashed the Servant's side and passed through. Even with the burst of blood, the characteristic thorns didn't even start to form as Miyu was pulled to a skidding stop near where she'd launched from, her spear reverting into the staff as the Card popped into the air.

"What?! No way, Gae Bolg is a one-hit, one-kill Noble Phantasm once released! What kind of luck does she have to avoid that?!" Eil yelped, growling as his attempt to scan the Servant failed again, "Dammit! That mist keeps interfering, it's too dense! I can't get a good scan on her!"

"S-So what do we do now?!" Illya yelped.

"The only other option we have, retreat!" Eil said, already shooting off, the enchantment on his arms dispelling, _"Well, that's wrong… there is a third option, but I have no idea if those sticks will be okay with it. Damn, could this be any worse?!"_

Miyu and Illya followed Eil as he shot to where Lluvia and Rin were, and as the two girls got behind him, he produced another barrier to guard them. Saber immediately stuck at them, the first blow cracking the barrier. A second came to it hit already.

"Illya, Miyu, hurry!" Eil snapped. The magic circles were already forming as the third blast hit, which shattered the barrier completely, Eil reeling back and his eyes going wide. And while he did get into the twin circles, Saber released another blast. This one nearly hit the group and sent them flying off in different directions. Eil, Rin, and Lluvia crashed into the ground near the railing by the river, while Miyu and Illya got blown back into the woods.

"Ow! The hell is with this one?!" Rin snapped, Eil growling as he stood up, holding his right shoulder.

"And now retreat isn't an option either…" Eil muttered.

"So we're forced to fight then… there has to be something we can do!" Lluvia said, Eil giving a chuckle.

"Well, I do have one idea in mind… the only question is whether or not the sticks wanna do it." Eil remarked, looking to where Illya and Miyu had landed, _"I don't think those two are terrible, and if I had to guess, they have the same level of power as Rin and Lluvia when they use the sticks. But, they simply don't have the kind of skill to take on an enemy like this. Saber has got to be the worst possible match up for them to go against right now… geez, this would be so much easier if Rin and Lluvia were still using the sticks and none of this mess had happened… but… maybe it's too cynical of me to think that way."_

"And what _is_ that idea you'd need them to agree to?" Rin asked, Eil chuckling again.

"Well, I'm about to go see if I can convince them!" Eil shot off as he said so, Rin yelping.

"What?!"

"Hold her off if you could! Just chuck gems at her for a few minutes, I dunno! Just keep Saber from moving!" Eil shouted, Rin and Lluvia both giving exasperated sounds before shooting off and doing just that, Eil slowing as he approached Illya and Miyu. He immediately saw that there was blood on Illya's right arm. Even if the wound had closed, it was clear receiving the wound had left her in a bit of shock. "Hey, Illya, you okay?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah…" Illya murmured, holding her arm where the wound had been, Eil kneeling down and looking her in the face. It was obvious to him she was losing the will to fight now. Their escape route had been cut off, and this foe was simply too much. He didn't doubt Illya was looking at this situation with abject fear of their enemy. And that she'd also fully realized the danger of the job they had to do. "Wh-What do we do now, Ruby? What should we do?!"

"Calm down, Illyasviel!" Miyu said, "I'll stick to the enemy and keep her in place… use that chance too…"

"No! That'll just end up the same way!" Illya snapped.

"If I set physical defense to maximum, it should hold for ten seconds!" Miyu shouted in reply, Eil growling, a bit.

"You can't! That puts you in too much danger!" Illya snapped, Eil sighing. And then he promptly whacked both girls on the head. Hard.

"Let's not start, please!" Eil said, giving a sigh as the two girls looked at him, "Look you two, let's be honest: You're strong, but Saber is too much for even the two of you working together. But… I have an idea that could work."

"Besides, the two of you shouldn't fight!" Ruby added, drifting over to Eil's side, "Honestly… you'll never be good magical girls that way."

"B-But…" Illya murmured, Ruby nodding.

"I know. At this rate, we don't have a chance. Buuut… I believe I know what Eil is thinking." Ruby said, Eil glancing at her, "You're okay with it, right, Sapphire-chan?"

"Yes, Nee-san." Sapphire replied, "If Master thinks it will work, then I will not argue."

"At least put up with the two of them for a bit, alright?" Eil said, standing up and giving a bit of a chuckle, his eyes going to Saber's sword, a smirk showing on his face, "It's stupid and kinda reckless… but it just might work out."

"It's our last resort." Ruby said.

"Then let's go! Rin! Lluvia!" Eil shouted, turning on his heel and shooting off, Illya and Miyu behind him. As Eil rushed forward, he produced a random sword into his hands and slashed at Saber, his blade slamming against hers, and he forcibly shoved the two weapons guards against each other, "Sorry, but you need to stay still!"

"Wait what are you doing?!" Rin yelled, the noticing the smirk Eil flashed her as Saber pushed him away, and a look of realization came to her face, "So that's it huh?! Alright then! Hope you know what you're doing Eil!"

"Of course I do! I'm a Zvezda after all, this is my thing! Illya, Miyu! Now!" Eil shouted.

Illya and Miyu then threw Ruby and Sapphire as hard as they could, their trances reverting as the sticks flew past Eil and Saber. Eil only smirked as Saber launched him back, the boy skidding to a stop. He stood straight, and his smirk widened out as a glow shone behind him, planting the tip of his sword into the ground.

"We can't run, and those two can't fight you… so, option three." Eil said, snickering as he leaned to the side a bit.

"Geez, you're such troublesome people." Ruby remarked, "I couldn't bring myself to abandon you, so this time is special! Be sure to thank Eil for this one, it was his idea!"

"Keep talking. You should've done this from the start!" Rin snapped, a pair of cat ears twitching on her head, the young woman garbed in her own red attire courtesy of Ruby, a look that, while fitting, would obviously embarrass one if seen in it in public.

"Temporarily accepting guest registration." Sapphire spoke, "Though I'd prefer not to… but, I will not go against Master Eil's request."

"What are you blathering about? This is how it was meant to be." Lluvia said, herself in a blue outfit of Sapphires design, one of which hugged her curves much in the same way as Illya's Ruby attire did, and topping the young woman's head were dog like ears. Eil would probably say hyena though.

"Save any complaints for later, all of you." Eil said, stretching an arm as his sword dissolved into light,  
"We've got a Saber to kick the ass of. Heh, let's hope I can keep up. I'm getting pretty low on reserves."

"I'm gonna want answers about this whole thing later." Rin said, kicking Eil in the shin.

"OW! Yeah yeah, I'll tell ya' everything when this is done! Just don't kick me dammit!" Eil snapped, bouncing on his non-injured foot.

"Well there is _one_ idea to help replenish your mana as well." Ruby stated, "Though would _either_ of you do that with Eil? Huhhh?"

"Ruby, don't even start." Eil grumbled, lowering his leg after rubbing his shin a bit, "I'll be fine."

"No. We need you at full capacity. This was your idea, so don't try backing out because of low mana reserves." Rin said, grabbing Eil by his jacket's collar, the young man raising a brow, "You owe me for this one? Got it?!"

"Wait you're actually gonna do it?!" Eil yelped, not even getting another word before Rin yanked him down and planted her lips onto his, Illya's eyes going wide from where she stood as the moment persisted for a bit, Rin shoving Eil back and wiping giving a sigh as the young man spluttered, "The hell?! Why did your tongue go in?!"

"I had to get mana into you, didn't I?" Rin said, though there wasn't hiding the blush on her face, "It was practical! So, feeling better?"

"Much better, actually. Heh, guess the Kaleidosticks have some pretty strong mana." Eil remarked, wiping off his lips a bit.

"My my, how _bold_ of you Tohsaka! No restraint at all!" Lluvia said, a hand by her mouth, "Even if you did it for practical reasons, was a French kiss really necessary?"

"Oh shut up you damn hyena!" Rin snapped, Eil sighing as the two began to butt heads, and when his eyes found Illya staring incredulously, he looked away and coughed into a hand. Though not much more arguing or awkwardness as to be had among the group, as Saber launched another blast at the magus trio, all of them shooting to the side to avoid it.

"Alright enough chit chat! Saber first!" Eil snapped, skidding to a stop and holding his hands out, "Connect, _Pegasus, Leo, Aries!"_

Eils limbs where again wreathed in flames and wind as the arrangements formed, and the third formed over his chest and generated a glowing white aura over his body that drifted like a fine mist. He shot out of the way of another blast form Saber, skidding to a stop near Rin, the continuing to side step more blasts as Saber kept firing them.

"Be careful!" Miyu said, her hands at her mouth to project her voice, "Her slash is a combination of mana and sword pressure. The magical barrier isn't enough to negate it!"

"That's bothersome." Rin muttered, "If we divert too much mana to defense, then our offense will be weak."

"Well I don't really have to worry about that one." Eil remarked, forming Durandal Alternative in his right hand, he and Rin dodging to Saber's flanks to avoid another slash.

"But we won't be able to penetrate that mist wall with weak attacks." Lluvia noted, "Eil, have you been able to get a good scan?"

"Nope! That mist keeps blocking me out. I don't have anything about her parameters or true name!" Eil said, "So, we have a plan?!"

"Of course!" Lluvia shouted, raising Sapphire, "Shoot!"

Multiple blasts fired from the staff, the mist barrier simply deflecting them to the side, but, they kicked up smoke. Eil smirked as he shot in with sword in hand.

"Over here Servant!" Eil shouted, his sword coming down, Saber blocking with her blade.

"He's not the only one you should worry about!" Rin yelled, coming in and slashing at Saber with a blade coming from Ruby's top, Saber shoving away Eil in order to block, pushing Rin back in equal measure, "This is a tough one!"

"Heh, even when we're enhanced she's still crazy strong… but, that's not enough to shake me!" Eil said, shooting back into the fight, Rin following suit herself, the two exchanging blows with Saber at quick speeds, neither landing hits, but their assault also kept Saber from making any attacks herself as she parried their weapons.

"A blade of densely woven mana… it's kind of like Eil's own sword." Illya remarked, she and Miyu having moved further away from the fight.

"With that, not only can she pierce the mist of mana, it lets her use the remaining mana on defense and enhancement. I didn't know it could be used in this way." Miyu observed, one of her hands going tight, "And Eilwyn… his own enhancements barely seemed to use any of his mana despite how much they enhance his abilities, and he's able to produce one of his copy Noble Phantasms. He's not equal to Saber, but he's a good match with someone by his side."

"Quite a couple of voices the two of you have!" Lluvia said, noting the fact of the other two's yelling, Lluvia herself running around the area, and an analytical eye would have seen the occasional bits of mana leaving her staff, "You sound like a pair of howler monkeys escaped from the zoo!"

"Eh!? If you have time to say that, then…" Rin snapped, stepping back as Saber shoved her away to let Eil coming in and lock blades with the Servant again.

"I have a little banana peel present for said monkeys." Lluvia said, "In five seconds, seven steps towards four o-clock, either one of you!"

As Eil and Rin stepped back from Saber trying to slash the two of them, they noticed a glowing mark on the ground, and the two of them smirked as they looked at each other. Their next step back was followed by Saber's forward step to come slamming down on the magic circle, which caused the ground to cave below her foot.

"Let's cut the insults huh?!" Eil snapped, he and Rin rushing forward and slashing together, the attacks blowing Saber back a good ways.

"And their teamwork is amazing too." Miyu noted, Illya tilting her head.

"Is it?"

"Huhh, such unrefined hand-to-hand combat goes against my principles." Ruby said, Rin looking at the stick with a glare on her face, "Magical girls should attack with more flash and sparkle."

"Ruby is now _really_ the time?" Eil snapped.

"Ohohoho! You shouldn't ask the impossible, Ruby!" Lluvia laughed, "Tohsaka Rin is not at all like me, who's entire existence is elegant!"

"How are you elegant?! You're just gaudy!" Rin yelled.

"Save it for later!" Eil snapped, side stepping another blast from Saber and then rushing back in to stop her blade, though a smirk came to his face as he was forced into a blade lock, "That's a mighty fine sword you've got there… mind if I try it myself?!"

Eil's grip on Durandal loosened as Saber blew him back, the weapon vanishing into light, and he stretched out his right hand as he came to a stop, a blue glow ebbing out again as his voice began rising up.

" _Reforge: VEGA!_ " Eil shouted, a flash bursting from his hand as his gripped it down, and he was now gripping a perfect looking copy of Saber's own sword, chuckling as he placed his left hand on the lower part of the hilt, "I don't know that thing's true name, so this copy sadly isn't as strong as it could be… but, well, that's what I get for copying a sword held be a copy. Talk about counterfeits huh?"

"Don't just go and pull something like that mid battle! It's cheesy!" Rin shouted, Eil scoffing.

"On the contrary, I think this is pretty cool!" Eil shouted, black mist swirling around his own sword as he angled it, his own slash producing a blast of his own, one tinged by the silver mist he himself was covered by, and Saber blocked it with her own blast, Eil's smirk going wider, "Oh man, this is even cooler than I thought it would be!"

"Man you're a handful." Rin muttered, looking at Saber, "But, now I get what you mean. She may have a body formed from mana, but I don't sense any kind of human intelligence. She's more like an animal, or a machine that exists solely to kill the enemy before her."

"I did assume these copies don't have any reason." Eil stated, Saber giving a yell that caused her aura to surge, "These are soulless copies of Heroic Spirits!"

Saber rushed forward to strike, Eil angling his sword to block hers, the two blades producing sparks as they scraped across each other. Eil ducked as the blades moved, slashing at Saber and being parried himself, being sent skidding back. Rin then shot in with her own slashes that Saber returned with a volley of her own, a strike sending the girl's blade flying.

Eil shot forward again though, right in the way of the slash, his sword catching Sabers as it came around. Rin smirked to herself though, as Eil was still moving forward, the gap between him and Saber closing, giving him enough room to reach out and grab Saber's hilt himself, shoving his sword down at an angle to lock her in place, a screaming sound coming out as his blade pierces the stone on the ground.

"Heh, we finally caught you!" Eil said, a smirk on his face, even as Saber's sword dug against the barrier of the mist around him and began fraying the part of his jacket it was against, "Rin, if you would?!"

"With pleasure!" Rin said, raising her staff towards Saber's chest at point blank as a bright ball of energy condensed at the tip, Saber actually reacting to this with a small gasp, "FIRE!"

Eil pulled back as the blast was fired. While Saber herself was unharmed, the point-blank shot caused her mist aura to vanish.

"Ow… jeez, even with my defenses at max, I bet this is gonna bruise." Eil grumbled a bit as he held his right side, sighing, "Still, least I can square up to a swordsman without much trouble."

"You're telling me. I need more practice." Rin muttered, rolling one of her arms.

"If she were a dual wielder, that would've been dangerous." Ruby pointed out, Eil just scoffing.

"Yeah well, she isn't so it worked." Eil said, an eye shut as he spoke.

"By the way, everything had better be ready, Lluvia." Rin said, Lluvia appearing from amid the smoke.

"Well, I suppose I should thank you two for buying me the time." Lluvia said, the trio turning back to Saber, Eil chuckling as he put his sword over his right shoulder.

"If she was a worse swordsman we'd probably have already won. Now I _really_ wanna know who the hell she is." Eil said, the clear view actually letting him start getting actual data on the Servant, "But I may not have time for that, again. Won't I?"

As the smoke cleared while the three magi smirked, it became apparent why it was. Behind the three of them was a set of five magic circles in the air.

"Full charge, complete." Sapphire said.

"Now, our position is reversed from out previous enemy." Lluvia said, Eil laughing as he adjusted his grip on his sword.

"How about that huh? This is what Mage Association students can do!" Eil said, lowering his sword and pointing it at Saber.

"Was this their plan from the start?" Illya murmured, her expression one of amazement at the sight in front of her.

"I don't care about mana mist or whatever you have." Rin said, her and Lluvia taking stances with their staves raised, Eil gripping his sword in both hands and letting the mist surround it. "We'll blow it all away!"

"Give me a bit of credit too. _Regulus Meteoria!"_ Eil said, snapping his fingers, nine balls of light flying from his hand and up to the magic circles, arranging themselves and them forming the image of a lion over them as they grew in size, Eil gripping his sword again. "We're all blowing it away!"

"Shoot!"

"Fire!"

"Roar!"

The blast that fired from the magic circles was matched by the joined nine blasts from Eil's arrangement and the extra-large one fired from his sword as he swung it down with a hard swing. The blasts all converged as they rushed for Saber, blowing the Servant away and raking across the ground and to the water, causing a massive wall of water to rise upwards amid the torrent in the air, as well as tearing a massive gouge through the river and causing waterfalls to form in it (again, thankful this isn't the real world). And all there was afterwards was a tower of smoke rising from the massive crater.

"Ohhohohoho! A sweeping victory! We're invincible!" Lluvia laughed, Eil sighing.

"Yeah well let's hope we can actually grab the Card." Eil said.

"I finally feel better." Rin said, "But, I'd feel better if some greedy, wannabe rich girl had been blown away too."

"Huh? Who are you calling greedy?" Lluvia objected, putting her hands on her hips, "I cannot overlook that, Tohsaka Rin!"

"Who else would it be than you?!"

"And why is that?!"

"Had you an average sense of shame, you couldn't laugh so loudly, as though this were all your achievement!" Rin snapped, Eil then stepping between the two and holding their hands back.

"Alright you two, cut it out will ya? Let's find that Card and get out of here, alright?" Eil muttered, shoving the two girls back and sighing as they continued glaring at each other.

"I did most of the work though, so it's only natural!" Lluvia said, a smug look on her face.

"Haaahh?! Can't you at least show a bit of thanks considering Eil and I risked our lives to buy you time?!" Rin snapped, Eil sighing again as he brought a hand to his face.

"Like I said… let's not start!" Eil snapped, whacking both Rin and Lluvia on the head with his closed fists, "Card first, squabbling never!"

"I'm not sure if it's impressive or scary that Eil can make them stop arguing." Illya remarked.

"Let's not forget about you though!" Rin snapped, _both_ her and Lluvia then grabbing Eil by his jacket, "Those spells! What the hell is a Zvezda doing here?!"

"I thought your clan left the Associaiton ages ago!" Lluvia added, Eil sighing.

"Again, knew this was gonna happen eventually." Eil sighed as he pulled Rin and Lluvia's hands off of him, "It's complicated alright? But it's thanks to Zelretch I'm even _at_ the Clocktower to begin with. It was his idea anyway!"

"Yeah but your family is a bunch of heretics!" Rin said, Eil's eye twitching.

"For bullshit reasons! We got kicked out cause the higher ups were being assholes!" Eil snapped in return.

"So then why would the great Zelretch himself directly pull you to the Clocktower?" Lluvia added, Eil looking to the side.

"I… don't really know. Apparently he figured it'd be good for me… rather than keeping my ass cooped up in Russia or America all the damn time." Eil muttered, "Look does it even matter right now?!"

"Ehehe… you know, I can't help but feel a bit better about myself. Since we didn't have to reveal this ourselves." Illya noted, Miyu nodding along with her words. The two then looked over at the destruction the three had wrought, the smoking pillar still raising into the sky, even amid the continuing argument going on, "Still… this is on an entirely different level."

"It's something else." Miyu said.

"Ahhh! Can we just shut up and, again, get the stupid Card?!" Eil shouted, he, Rin and Lluvia then getting flat looks, "We didn't overdo it, did we?"

"Hopefully we didn't burn up the Card too." Rin said.

"Well, I don't think that would happen." Lluvia stated.

"Eil, Rin-san, Lluvia-san!" Illya called out, Eil chuckling as he gave a wave.

"Heyy! Nice going you too! You didn't get caught in any crossfire did ya'?" Eil said.

"Glad you're both good!" Rin called out.

"Miyu, are you alright?" Lluvia said.

Illya and Miyu started to run over with elated expressions on. But, the mood wasn't to last, as another torrent in the air burst up, a wall of water bursting forth from the river. All eyes turned to it again, and it wuickly turned to shock to see that Saber was _still alive._ Lacking her armor yes, but alive, her sword in her hands. The mist was swirling around it in a torrent of energy. But, it went from a swirling mist and solidified around the weapon into a bursting, shadowing aura.

"Ah man… hey, everyone… I just got her True Name… and I don't think you'll believe me when I say it." Eil said, his eyes going wider as his eyes went to the sword, everyone looking at him, "Arthur Pendragon… we've been fighting the wielder of _that_ sword."

" _Excalibur."_ Saber's voice was hollow as she said the name of the blade. The gathered energy then burst outwards in a massive pillar that rushed forward and tore through whatever got in it's way, blowing walls of water skywards as the pillar of darkness grew larger and tore it's way to the edge of the distortion, everything in it's path being blown away…

* * *

"Ugh… c-can't… breath… why is… something soft… on my face? And… my back too? What…"

Eil's coughed a bit as he wiggled around, feeling a weight on him as his eyes slowly opened up, and he gasped a bit as he forced his head out, though now the soft feeling only moved from his face to his chest. It was too dark for him to make out any kind of shapes at the moment, besides vague ones anyway.

"GAGH! Ugh… dammit… least I can breath, kinda… what, happened?"

"Master Eil?!"

"Huh? Sapphire?" Eil moved his head as far to the side as he could, his eyes starting to adjust to the light, able to make out the stick jittering about in front of him, "Sapphire? What the… what's going on? What… no… I remember… Saber… Excalibur."

"That's right." Sapphire said, "Ruby and I pulled you, Lluvia-sama, and Rin-sama. You're all rather injured tough."

"But at least you're awake!" Ruby said, flitting up, Eil pulling a hand to his face.

"Yeah, I feel I got hit by a truck. What about…" Eil stopped when he then realized _exactly_ the kind of posisiton he was in. Lluvia was stuck on his front, out cold, all her weight pressing into him, while _he_ was on top of Rin and pressing down on her no thanks to Lluvia, and there was also the awkward realization his left hand had gotten stuck in the waist of Rin's skirt, "What the hell is this?!"

"Ah, sorry about that. We were kind of in a rush." Ruby said, Eil managing to get free and move as much as he could in the small cavern, putting a hand to his head, "Again, at least you're awake."

"Yeah, whatever. But what about Illya, and Miyu? Did you guys get them too?" Eil asked, feeling too sluggish to respond in a method louder than he did, and then Sapphire shuddered again.

"We need to find them! Master Eil, will you come with me?!" Sapphire yelped, Eil nodding.

"Yeah. Ruby, keep an eye on these two in case they wake up, alright?" Eil asked, Ruby saluting.

"Roger! You can rely on me!" Ruby said.

"Good. Let's go Sapphire." Eil said, the stick nodding as he grabbed her. He then immediately started yelling as Sapphire began dragging him along through the dirt and stone at a rapid speed, clearing out enough to make sure Eil wouldn't get hit, but still going quite fast, "SLOW DOOOWWWNNN!"

Rather quickly though, the two burst free from the dirt and back to the surface, Eil letting out a shocked gasp as he flopped onto the ground, looking over when he heard a shriek to see Miyu reeling back, the girl's face becoming shocked as she saw Eil laying there, then looking to Sapphire as the stick wailed.

"I'm so glad you're okay Miyu-sama!" Sapphire bawled, Miyu looking beween the stick and Eil again.

"Sapphire, Eilwyn, you're okay?" Miyu asked, Eil nodding, sitting up, wincing a bit and holding his chest.

"Yeah, mostly." Eil muttered, "Rin and Lluvia are below. Injured like me and unconscious, but alive."

"We just barely managed to pull them underground and escape." Sapphire stated, Miyu nodding.

"What about… Illya?" Eil muttered, trying to stand up but failing, Miyu moving and helping him stay steady, "Where is she?"

"Over there." Miyu pointed off, Sapphire and Eil following her finger. Eil's eyes widened not just because the best way he could call the space before him a warzone, but also _who_ he saw. It was Illya, but somehow different. Her eyes had become golden, and she was garbed in red. On top of it, Eil could _feel_ something different… as images were rushing into his mind.

"What the… what happened to her? Why… why am I reading a Heroic Spirit's parameters?" Eil muttered, managing to stand, leaning on a nearby pillar.

"It's Illya-sama?! What?" Sapphire said. Miyu though, was looking around like she was searching for something, and Eil glanced over to see a massive pillar of black mist rising up, which then exploded into a purple tinted cloud, Saber standing at the center of the torrent.

"The hell… how stupidly strong _is_ she?" Eil muttered, then sighing, "Then again… it is Arthur Pendragon… and that sword is Excalibur itself… we seriously fought that head on?"

Eil then flinched when Saber raised her sword once more, the same shaped aura bursting around it, signifying she was ready to release the weapon again. Eil and Miyu then looked over to Illya, who only stared emotionlessly at Saber.

"She's using her Noble Phantasm again! Run, Illyasviel! Even if you've turned yourself into a Heroic Spirit, you can't beat that holy sword!" Miyu shouted, Eil raising a brow.

"Turned herself into a… Miyu, what are you talking about? There's another way to use those Cards?" Eil asked, Miyu then biting her lip as a hand balled up, "Miyu, what's going on?!"

"I'm sorry but… I can't explain that… not right now." Miyu muttered, Eil looking at the now tense girl with a look of confusion. But, he turned his attention back to Illya. A golden aura had begun to rise around her, a glow coming from both her hands as she gripped them around a forming object: A golden sword, one that shone with brilliant light and etched in mysterious scripting at the base of the blade, a shining golden guard marking the upper part of the hilt.

"That's the true form of the holy sword… Excalibur." Eil murmured, the image of the golden sword burning into his mind. White feathers then began to drift down around Illya as she raised the sword above her head, golden light beginning to stream from Excalibur and into the sky, condensing into a flowing blade of golden light.

" _Excalibur!"_

" _Excalibur!"_

Both Saber and Illya called the names of their swords, black and golden power rushing from the lowered blades and crashing into each other, Eil and Miyu guarding their eyes as the air whipped around. The clash of energies then gave way, the golden torrent blasting away the black and crashing onto Saber, bursting skywards into a massive pillar of light that reached the very roof of the distortion itself.

When it finally faded Illya was left standing there. The sword in her hand faded, and she collapsed to the ground, the Archer card rising from her body, and her form returning to normal.

"Illya!" Eil rushed over with Miyu and Sappihire, the three giving sighs of relief as Illya's chest gently rose in fell in steady breathing. Looking over to where Saber had been, her Card was the only thing left, floating in its place. Eil approached the Card, grabbing it out of the air and staring at the item, his fingers going tight around it. "We survived… and we got the Card."

And when they heard a crashing noise, Eil and Miyu turned again to witness Rin and Lluvia burst from the ground with Sapphire.

"I thought we were gonna die!" Rin shouted, Eil sighing to himself, looking back down and to the unconscious Illya, and the Archer card near her.

" _She used it to gain the power of a Heroic Spirit in full. And it was enough she was able to defeat Saber… I don't care if it was a weakened copy, that wasn't normal. Just… what the hell are these things? What kind of power do they have… and what does Miyu know about them that she can't tell me?"_ Eil put a hand to his head as these questions rose up in his mind. It was too much to ask, and he had no idea if he'd even have the time to ask them. All of it was sudden. And this entire night was just one mind boggling, exhausting experience. "Man… it can't just ever be easy, can it?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **One day! I started this shit today and got it done today! What's up mofos!... though not like it was one sitting, good LORD no! Still, glad I got this much done in it. Hope ya'll enjoy… and boy is there a lot to do from here. WHOO.**


	9. Chapter 9

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 9: One Odd Day**

"Owowowowow! Geez do you have to apply so much?!"

"Oh stop whining. You're the one who was injured the most, so of course you'd need to be patched up more."

Eil let out a hissing grumble as he leaned on a hand. Rin was applying some things to his injuries from the previous fight, and she stopped amid wrapping his back.

"So, tell me, why would a Zvezda even take the risk of going to the Clocktower? Doesn't your family have a sealing designation on them?" Rin's remark got Eil to sigh again.

"Again, it was Zelretch's idea. I was in America at the time, studying how to use Creation with the Colthearts. They're a branch family, and they keep under the Association's radar since it was derived from Projection. Which as far as the Association is concerned, is a "useless" magecraft since it doesn't help in getting to the Root."

"Okay, and?"

"And, he figured I'd be better off actually being around other magi my age rather than staying cooped up in mansions for a good part of my life." Eil responded, rolling one hand's fingers on his knee, "So, I went there under the Coltheart name to avoid suspicion, and kept practicing Asterism in secret with supervision from Zelretch and Lord El Melloi. There's not really much more to it than that."

"Honestly I was expecting something more complicated than that." Rin said, tearing the bandage roll to then pin it in place, "You know, the whole "heretic" thing and all that."

"We were only called heretics because we gave up on looking for the Root and developed a powerful form of magecraft anyway. It's not exactly our fault sometime in the past a Sorcery Trait developed that allowed us to do that in the first place. And not like they can just throw people at an heir to produce more people with that trait. So, rather than deal with it, the Association figured it'd be best to slap a sealing designation on my bloodline and try to keep us contained. That obviously didn't work out."

"Yeah no kidding, considering it's near impossible to know where the Zvezda's go our base themselves." Rin added, patting the bandages once she was finished, "There. All wrapped up and good to go."

"Thanks." Eil said, pulling on a black shirt to cover the bandages, "So, anything else, or you gonna do more? Also, just be aware, if this gets out somehow, I'm coming for your head."

"Relax, I'm not so petty I'd report you. Besides, I don't wanna get cracked down on by Zelretch himself, if that would even happen. I'm simply not gonna take the risk." Rin leaned back as she messed with a bit of her hair, then jabbing a finger at Eil, "And don't forget, you owe me for that mana transfer during the fight. I had to give up my first kiss to do that!"

"Alright alright, I'll make it up to ya' somehow. But first, we've got two Cards left, so we're gonna have to plan. It's only Berserker and Assassin now… which means our next go has a 50/50 chance of either being in our favor, or we're going to have one hell of a fight on our hands, again." Eil threw on the blazer of his uniform as he spoke, already heading for the door, "I'll be back after class or whatever… might check on Illya afterwards to see how she's doing."

"Good idea. I mean she should be fine, but better to be safe than sorry, right?" Rin remarked, Eil nodding as he trotted out of the door, Rin then sighing, "Who'd've thought it'd turn out this way huh? Geez, how do I end up on the case where the Zvezda heir is involved?"

* * *

"Well, pretty convenient I now have a bit of an extra excuse for stopping by… two sets of notes eh Taiga? Geez… I get Illya taking the day off, but why Miyu too? Lluvia most likely."

Eil glanced back at the mansion behind him and then sighed, instead turning on his heel and stepping up to the door of the Einzbern house, pressing the door bell then waiting.

"Hold on a moment!" Sella's voice came through, and a moment later, the woman opened the door, her eyes going wide as she saw Eil, who gave a small wave, "Huh? You're Illya's friend from school right? The transfer student?"

"Uh, yeah. The teacher asked me to bring some of today's classwork to Illya. Is uh, is it fine if I come in? I kind of have something I need to talk to her about too." When he saw the suddenly shocked look on Sella's face, the boy sighed, "I promise, it's nothing strange. I guess it's… tutoring? Yeah, tutoring. Illya asked me to help her out with some things so that's why!"

"Ah… j-just tutoring? Okay then… h-her room is upstairs. Her name is on the door."

"Thank you. And pardon me." Eil followed Sella in and, recalling Japanese etiquette, removed his shoes at the entryway. As he entered past the main hall, he peered into the main room. It was a rather quaint little home if he had to remark on anything. Though he'd spent most of his life living in expansive mansions with room to spare, so this felt a bit cramped to him.

On the couch of the living room was another woman who looked quite a bit like Sella, but with shorter, wavier hair, and dressed in a lazier fashion of short shorts and a top that quite clearly lacked anything under it. His immediate comparison was that it was clearly this one who got the good genes for body type.

"Leys, this is one of Illya's friends from school. Uh… what's your name?" Sella said, Eil putting a hand behind his head.

"Eil Coltheart. Nice to meet you." Eil's response got a hum from Leys, who then titled her head.

"Well, least Illya finally made friends with a hot guy." Leys' remark then got Sella to yelp, Eil bringing his hand to his face.

"Leys don't say things like that! It's just tutoring!"

"I didn't say anything like that. You're the one who's face is red. Which means you're the one thinking dirty thoughts."

"Yeah I'll just… be upstairs." Eil was quick to retreat as the two women began arguing… well, more Sella was arguing, and Leys was giving deadpan responses. It didn't take long for him to find the room with Illya's name on it, marked on a hanging plaque, "Hey Illya? It's Eil! I brought some notes from class, you awake?"

He heard a rustling noise, a few crashes, and then something slam into the door. A moment of silence passed, and then the door slowly opened, Illya's head coming into view. She looked more than a little ruffled and her face had a red tint to it, not to mention her night clothes looked to have been just recently thrown on. For what reason he had no idea.

" _Maybe Illya is the type who doesn't wear much to sleep."_

"A-Ahhh… hey Eil? What brings you here?" Illya asked, tilting her head, and Eil caught her kicking Ruby to the side.

"Again, notes from class. And also checking in after last night and all. Mana overuse can be kinda draining." Eil leaned on the doorframe, Illya giving an awkward chuckle, her heel grinding into Ruby.

"Right right! Don't worry though, I'm fine. I had a bit of a fever this morning but I'm fine. Sella's just kind of overprotective, so I've been cooped up for a while now." Illya remarked, a move of her foot sliding Ruby along the floor and under the bed, "Uhm… c-come on in."

"Aight." Eil said, the door downright slamming once he was in the room, Eil only raising a brow. Illya on the other hand looked downright rigid as she went to sit on the bed. What did somewhat bother Eil though was the fact her shirt was in no way fully buttoned (odds being because she _couldn't_ button it all the way, the sorry cloth looked like it was barely holding on), and his face gained a red tint. Especially when he thought about last night. _"I cannot reveal I carried her home after she passed out… dammit, that played merry hell on me! I didn't know girls were that soft!"_

"So… notes?"

"Right! Taiga wanted me to drop them off. I've also got some for Miyu, but I'll handle that later." Eil reached into his school bag and produced the folder, placing it on Illya's desk, then taking the chair for himself, "But uh… You're really fine after last night? Again I just wanna be sure."

"Yeah, totally fine now. I just needed some extra rest is all." Illya said, waving her hand casually, Eil coughing into a hand as he notedly folded his legs, "What about you guys? With what happened, you're not hurt are you?"

"A bit. I got kind roughed up, but I'm a fast healer. Rin changed out the bandages this morning, to be safe." Eil remarked, tugging his shirt up to show the bandages on his torso, though moving it back down… though Illya didn't really move her eyes. Heck he could swear her eyes were scanning him now.

"Right…. I see." Illya murmured, _"What does Eil look like when he's shirtless? He looks thin but… maybe he's fit? AHHH! Why am I thinking this right now?! But… I want to know! It's gonna haunt me!"_

"So… what do you remember about last night?" Eil asked, his tone serious, but clearly also of someone trying to divert the topic to something else.

"Ah, well… let's see… I remember trying to find you guys after Saber used her Noble Phantasm… but then there's just a point where it goes blank. Ahh, I can't remember at all but, we're here so, that means you finished it right? You and Miyu?"

"Ah… y-yeah… we did." Eil's response was awkward to say the least, but that brought another thing to mind, _"So she doesn't remember… Miyu told me the entire story about Illya using the Card… something called an Install. A kind of psudeo-summoning… but then, why would Illya not remember that at all? Maybe… maybe it has to do with her being an Einzbern. She seems like a perfectly normal girl, and she was totally unaware about the world of mages until recently… then that happened. Her dad is the freaking Magus Killer himself though! That means something_ has _to be going on here, something nobody else knows about."_

"Ahh… it's 0-2-1 then." Illya remarked, her eyes going to the Archer Card on her desk, "I haven't gotten a single card, while you and Miyu have managed to finish them each time."

" _It's 1-1-1 actually…"_ Eil thought, just sighing as he leaned on a hand, "Wonder what Miyu's doing right now, speaking of her."

"Let's ask her directly!" Ruby shot up from under the bed as if she'd been queued to appear at last.

"Weren't you unconscious?!" Illya yelped, then shouting when Ruby suddenly changed form, producing a speaker and an antenna to boot, "What's that form?!"

"The old man kinda gave the sticks a lot of weird functions." Eil remarked, Illya looking at him with wide eyes, "This is one of many."

"Your mentor's weird!"

"You don't know the half of it."

"This is Telephone Mode! One of my many secret devices!" Ruby answered, Eil sighing heavily as the stick began ringing, "Hello? Sapphire-chan? Are you awake?"

" _What is it, Nee-san?"_

"Whoa, you got through!" Illya said, suddenly looking excited.

" _What was that voice, Sapphire?"_ They were then met by Miyu's voice coming over the line.

"Sup Miyu?" Eil said, the girl on the other end giving a hum.

" _Eilwyn? Illyasviel?"_

"H-Hello. Sorry for the sudden call." Illya said.

" _Did you need something?"_

"Ah… No, I didn't need anything, but… I was wondering what you were doing."

" _Right now, I'm at home. Lluvia-nee-san insisted I take the day off."_

"Called it!" Eil remarked, Illya giving a small chuckle.

"So, we're in the same boat huh?" Illya said, "Bored with nothing to do?"

" _Yes."_ And then a silence pervaded the room for a good few moments, _"Are you physically all right? You aren't feeling sick from using too much mana or anything?"_

"Ah yeah I'm fine. Eil-san checked in one me earlier, so don't worry about it. Well, he's still here, actually." Illya said.

" _I see."_

"Yeah."

" _Why does it feel so awkward?"_ Eil hung his head as he sighed again…

"Argh! Jeez this is irritating! What's with this awkwardness?!" Ruby seemed to share the same sentiment as Eil did.

"W-Well what should I say?!" Illya yelped, Eil leaning the chair back as he put his feet on the desk.

"All right, in that case, I'll switch it to video call! If you can see each other, it should be easier to talk to each other." Ruby said, hovering a bit closer to the wall, and with a _chunk_ sound, a _projector_ popped out of her.

"Something else came out?!" Illya yelled, Eil just shaking his head.

"It's a projector. This can display in real time whatever Sapphire-chan currently sees." Ruby said, the projected image now on the wall more like a loading screen at the moment.

"You really have a lot of inconsequential functions huh?" Illya remarked.

"Again, you don't even know the half of it." Eil stated.

" _Eh? Video chat? Wait, are you… h-hold on!"_ Miyu sounded downright panicked on the other end of the line, though like that would stop Ruby.

"Here we go!" The stick cheerfully said, a countdown sounding as one could hear Miyu panicking.

" _H-Huh?! Wh-What is this?! Wait-"_ The image changed to Miyu, the girl desperately trying to grab Sapphire. And in a scene that made Eil and Illya freeze, she was in a maid outfit. And to further the surprise, Miyu began shuffling about, her face almost as red as a beet and clearly embarrassed, showing something _other_ than her usual deadpan expression for once.

"A maid… a maid outfit?!" Illya went from shocked to ecstatic in seconds. Eil however, seemed frozen in place as he just stared at the projection. Or, more precisely, at Miyu and how she was acting.

"My, my… what lovely taste you have!" Ruby remarked, Miyu letting out an embarrassed whine.

"Eh? This isn't what you think!" Miyu said, her face getting even redder, Eil feeling even more shock to his system at the display, "Um, I-I'm not wearing this because I want it… Lluvia-nee-san forced me to wear it!"

" _I think I just learned I've got a thing for gap moe…"_ Eil could almost swear he felt some kind of switch click to "on" in his brain as Miyu covered her face with her hands as her voice cracked. And a glance over to Illya showed a similar phenomenon… except Eil could swear he really _did_ see a switch on her chest flip on.

"Miyu-san… I want to see you now." Illya then grabbed Ruby, downright crushing the stick in her hands, her eyes wild swirls at best.

" _Huh? What?!"_ Miyu yelped.

"I really want to see you!" Illya shouted, her voice downright manic, "I really want to see you in person! Come over, come over right now! And keep that outfit on!"

" _H-Hold on…"_

"You're right across the street aren't you?! MOVE IT!"

" _HUH?!"_

"Something weird is bound to happen, I feel it." Eil muttered, waving his arms and yelping when his feet suddenly slipped, leaving him to come crashing down onto the floor as the chair fell back, "Ow…"

A few moments later, after a silence fell over the room, the door-knob turned and opened, Miyu immediately coming into view, and as demanded, still in the maid outfit.

"Pardon me…" Miyu murmured, a terrified expression coming to her face when Illya suddenly pounced at her, the glomp causing Illya to spin as her voice rang with joy.

"Welcome!" Illya cheered, Eil having one rather confused expression as Illya then started hopping about, not helped by the _other_ kind of bouncing going on with her. Miyu just looked downright terrified. "Wow! You're really in a maid outfit! It looks like a nice material, and it's well-tailored too!"

"What's going on?" Eil muttered, sitting back up and fixing the chair. Illya pounced again, grabbing Miyu by the shoulders. The urge to try and hold her back was something Eil had no idea if he should act on at the time either.

"Are you real?! Are you a real high-school maid?!" Illya yelped, her eyes wild swirls again, "Wait, say "master" for me!"

"Eh? Wouldn't normally be "my lady" though?" Miyu replied, Illya's look going from expectant to flat, and back to wild again in seconds.

"JUST SAY IT!"

"M-Master?!"

"And here comes the mess…" Eil's hand just met his forehead, to which he promptly flopped back onto the bed. "What am I even doing right now?"

* * *

After that debacle had finally calmed down, the trio was seated around the small table Illya had pulled out, Sella awkwardly leaving the room with the now empty tray of the snacks she'd brought up for the teenagers.

"Enjoy yourselves…" Sella said, though as she left, Eil could swear he heard the woman starting to scream.

"S-Sorry I got weird…" Illya murmured, Ruby and Sapphire drifting out from hiding behind their respective contractors.

"No, it's all right." Miyu said, but her face was still downright burning. Eil made a mental note to remember that expression for another time.

"Illya-san's a latent S isn't she?" Ruby murmured.

"More importantly… the other lady in the house looked at me strangely." Miyu said, looking to the side, "And she was also being pinned by the other lady for some reason."

"Can't imagine why." Eil dryly said, shaking his head as he leaned back.

"Oh, sorry, I hadn't thought about that." Illya said, her face then getting red as well, "And… maybe Leys was keeping Sella from doing something… since there is a boy here after all."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, kind of." Sapphire said, "Lluvia-sama kind of likes dressing Miyu-sama up every now and again, sadly."

"Eh? So it really is a cosplay?" Illya asked. "It's pretty well made."

"It's actually a real maid uniform." Miyu's response got Illya to perk up again, "When Lluvia-nee-san first took me in, I did serve as a maid for her though, and helped take care of her. Before Lluvia-nee-san took me in, I didn't have anyone to rely on… I've been grateful for her providing for my livelihood for the past five years, but I've wanted to pay her back. So I still occasionally work as a maid, and now I help collect the Cards."

" _Doesn't she have family elsewhere? Though she said five years… so, did something happen then for Miyu to end up in the Edelfelt's care? What could that have been though? AGH! Man, now I've got two girls with mysterious pasts to figure out!"_ Eil pinched the bridge of his nose as a breath passed through his lips.

"I think it's best not to touch on those subjects." Ruby advised, addressing it to both Eil and Illya.

"Alright." Eil murmured, "Still, pretty interesting story that must be."

"Yeah! It's kind of amazing." Illya said, going to the sliding door and opening it, allowing the breeze to blow into the room, "Both a maid and a magical girl. That's a rare type of character! And you even defeated that second enemy with Eil yesterday."

"Huh?" Miyu looked at Eil, and he shook his head, silently communicating that Illya didn't remember what happened that night to her, "Oh."

"I think you're both pretty amazing. Eil doesn't even need one of the sticks to fight those Servants either." Illya's words were honest ones, though Eil felt a pang of guilt shoot through him like an arrow. He and Miyu knew the truth of the matter, but now they had to lie to Illya about it because they had no clue how she would react to learning about what she did to defeat Saber. It was a hard choice, but one they made nonetheless."

"Yeah, well, it was a tough one but, hey, we gotta do what we gotta do, right?" Eil awkward laughed as he put a hand behind his head, then giving a sigh. He caught Sapphire and Ruby drifting out to the veranda, but he decided not to question it. Odds were that Sapphire was going to tell Ruby what really happened. _"But it does make me wonder… using a Card to become a Heroic Spirit… maybe that's how they're actually used? It makes too much sense to pass up as being the truth. If they can make those kinds of mana distortions and hold that kind of power… these things are more dangerous than we thought."_

 _FWUMP!_

"Huh?" The sound got Eil to come back out of his thoughts and look over. A sudden twitch came to his brow as he saw that Illya had now shoved Miyu to the bed and mounted the poor girl, Illya's eyes wide while Miyu looked far too embarrassed for her own good. "What."

"I-It's not what it looks like!" Illya yelped.

"Help, please." Miyu said.

"Ugh… I don't even know but… come Illya, let her go!" Eil stepped forward and grabbed Illya by the torso, biting his lip a bit as one of his arms ended up under her chest, the feeling way to soft for him to feel okay about it. The sudden yank also seemed to snap Illya out of it, her face then starting to turn red as Eil pulled her away so Miyu could get up, the girl readjusting herself. "Yeah this is awkward…"

"I'm sorry!" Illya yelped, bowing on the floor, "Uhm, I got excited… though I maybe would've liked to been held a bit longer."

"Eh?"

"NOTHING!"

"Seriously. You shouldn't do lewd things to maids! That isn't in their job description!" Ruby said, her and Sapphire back in the room, then Ruby hummed, "Well… maybe it depends on the situation. Butlers are open game for healthy young laides."

"Don't say weird things." Eil said, gripping Ruby in a death vice.

"I'm sorry… it was that weird switch's fault!" Illya said, bowing even further.

"No, it's… you didn't mean any harm, Illyasviel." Miyu said, Eil catching her glance over to him while he dropped Ruby like a rock.

"Uhm… I've wondered for a while, but… isn't Illyasviel too long to say?" Illya asked, Miyu looking back to her in turn.

"Yeah and Eilwyn is kinda hard for somebody unfamiliar with it, isn't it?" Eil responded, "I mean, it has a "vin" sound, now a "win" sound."

"Illya is fine. All my friends call me that." Illya said, "Being called by my full name is kind of embarrassing."

"I prefer Eil myself. Easier to say and snappier. I like being to the point about it. Besides, everyone I know calls me that, so feel free to do the same." Eil added, Miyu looking between both white-haired teens smiling at her now.

"Friends?" Miyu murmured, Illya yelping.

"Am I wrong?! I certainly thought we were! Was I the only one who did?!" Illya said, Eil shaking his head as he chuckled.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean that." Miyu said, laying her hands on her lap, "You can just use my first name too. Both of you."

"Sure! It's nice too know you, Miyu." Illya said, Eil chuckling.

"I kinda use them for everyone anyway, but, sure." Eil stated.

"N-Nice to know you, Illya." Miyu replied, she and Illya joining hands, which Eil felt finally cemented the idea the two were friends at last.

"Okay! Now let's have you wipe my body down!" Illya said, Eil's face becoming one of flat shocked… especially after Illya casually threw off her shirt and pants.

"What."

"Where did that come from!?" Miyu was back to panicking as Illya was back to a wild expression.

"Isn't it a maid's job to care for the sick? Serve me!"

"Illya hold on!" Eil yelped, stepping off from the wall and grabbing Illya again, though to his immediate shock, his attempt to grab her torso wound up with him finding himself fondling Illya's breasts instead, the shocked moment having the reaction being he squeezed her a couple times, which made it worse by eliciting soft, surprised moans from Illya. _"GYAHHHHHHHHHHHH! What the hell what the hell what the hell?! How did this end up happening!?"_

"E-Eil… th-they're sensitive please… ah!" Illya let out a yelp again, and Eil was too frozen to move, "S-Something's against my butt… it's hot…"

"Don't move your hips! Eil yelped, his face a burning shade of red, _"GAAAAAHHH! Seriously what the hell?!"_

"Don't you have any shame?" Miyu yelped, stuck between Illya's arms as she supported herself, though she almost looked more… amazed, mainly because of Illya's expression.

"Don't make it worse!" Eil snapped, "If I just move back a bit… then…"

 _ **BAM!**_

And to the absolutely misfortune of the three, who to appear just then but Illya's friends from school, all making declarations as they entered… only for everything to become silent as they saw the mess happening before them, Eil and Illya being the most red faced as they became locked in place… and to say the position they were in wasn't helpful was an understatement, because from the angle the school bunch was seeing it from… it looked like what one could expect.

"THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Eil and Illya shouted at the same time, the friends from school all reacting differently to this.

"N-Naked?! With a maid outfit?! And a boy too?!"

"Sorry to intrude!"

"I just said it wasn't…" Illya whined.

"Sex play? Some kind of sex play?!"

"Let me take a picture!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Eil snapped, but the shutter snapping sound came anyway.

"S-Stop it!" Illya yelled to the sky for help, Eil just letting out a groan.

" _How the hell did I get caught up in this?! Why did this end up happening?!"_ Eil thought, wanting to scream himself for all the good it'd do him.

* * *

"Well, I guess there's worse ways to become friends with people." Eil sighed to himself as he approached the church for the third time now. He again slowly entered the main chapel, wary for any possible pranks, but it was silent again, with no signs of Caren being around, "Maybe she's in the study right now?"

"No, I'm actually right here."

"AGH?!" Eil yelped and shot around, finding Caren had appeared behind him, and the girl gave a scoff at his jumpy reaction, "Jeez, don't sneak up on me! Today was weird."

"Sure. So, the next Card?" Caren said, leading Eil back into the study. Once there, he produced the Saber Card, Caren taking it and giving a hum, "So, who was the Servant."

"King Arthur. It was one hell of a tough fight, but, well, obviously we made it through safely." Eil stated, then looking to the side, _"Should I tell her about Illya and how she used Archer?... nah, let's keep that under wraps for now."_

"I see. And let me guess, you had to use that magic of yours, eh?" Caren smirked again when Eil just looked to the side, though he didn't deny her claim, "Well it was surely bound to happen. But the mission comes first after all. Now let's see… that only leaves you lot with Assassin and Berserker. One easy fight, and another tough one. It'll be interesting I bet."

"Yeah, if we don't get the hell beat out of us along the way." Eil muttered, Caren giving a hum, "I get the feeling there's other things you want to add on top of this."

"There isn't much to say regarding the Cards anymore for now. Unless there actually is something else to mention." Eil stayed silent as Caren fell silent, then the girl just chuckled, "Not like I care that much though. I'm more interested in what happened after you had to use that star magic of yours."

"Not much surprisingly. Only had to threaten one of my seniors with keeping quiet about it." Eil stated, folding his arms, Caren giving a chuckle to the remark, "At the least now it shouldn't be an issue when we go against Assassin and Berserker since I won't have to hold back."

"Of course. So, any new, potentially interesting injuries?"

"No. You have an odd fascination for that. Not that I don't get why by this point… as weird as it is." Eil sighed again as he adjusted his position. He then promptly flinched when Caren got in his face again, "Cane you please not? I've had enough weird things happen to me for one day."

"There's something you're not telling me about what happened against Saber." Caren noted, Eil flinching again, "Again, I don't really care. Even if it's for records… or, would you rather I kept this off the record? Because I can do that."

"Really?"

"Probably not."

"Of course." Eil sighed again, though Caren didn't budge at all, "I'll at least say the Cards can do more than we _thought._ We don't know enough about it though, so I won't say much more than that, alright?"

"Fine by me."

"So can you stop straddling me, please?"

"It's surprisingly comfortable. Besides, it's amusing seeing you struggle not to be embarrassed."

"Are you an S?!"

"A bit."

" _Not even an attempt to deny it?!"_ Eil thought, an eye twitching as a grumble left his throat, _"Dammit, she smells nice too… this is bad."_

"So, wanna tell me what was so weird today that you're being this jumpy? Or are you just weak to a pretty girl being this close to you?" Caren's deadpan tone was definitely what made the remark worse. It was like a bizarre mix of teasing and an honest question.

"Like hell I will! Those details do not need to be said!" Eil snapped, really wishing he wasn't pretty much trapped at the moment.

"Worth a shot. But you're not denying that being around a pretty girl gets to you."

"Shove it! It's more the fact you're sitting on me that doesn't help!"

"Oh? Are you perhaps a bit of an M?"

"Hell no!" Eil snapped, then his face went flat, _"Wait a sec… this girl is smaller than me, can't I just lift her up?! Wait… she has that shroud though. She'd probably just snare me with it."_

"By the way, if you try anything I'll use the Shroud on you."

" _I knew it!"_ Eil thought, a long sigh coming form him, "Can I at least go now?"

"You only had to ask."

"Fuck you!"

"You're free to if you want."

"NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Eil shouted, letting out a growl, _"Why am I having a sudden bout of women troubles?!"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Because you are a protagonist in a Nasuverse based fanfiction that is why! You're fated (ha) to be burdened with the "Harem Protagonist: EX" Skill as long as it runs, be there routes or none at all! Ahh, be glad you ain't you're Grand Order Alternative version, he's gonna have it WAY worse… and what's with this kind of AN today? Hmm, felt snappier. We get closer to 2wei with each chapter… and closer to the mess getting bigger and weirder. Oh what fun it will be.**


	10. Chapter 10

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 10: Ugly Truths**

"So, what the heck is this place?"

Eil let out a hum as he looked over the mansion their group now found themselves at this night. The building showed the time of years of being left alone. Ivy covered the outer walls, and one could tell the interior had long since burnt out to a degree. But what mystified Eil the most however, was the traces of magic he could feel in the air. As if the ground itself was so saturated with traces that the land of his mansion had become marked by it. And he was sure it wasn't just the Card causing this feeling.

"This place gives me the creeps." Rin remarked, a visible shudder going through her body, and Illya stepped up.

"Nobody knows who lived here anymore, but, it's considered a haunted house." Illya stated, notably gripping Ruby rather tightly, "Everyone who comes here just has bad feelings… like something is crawling on them. Others say they hear somebody screaming, but not in pain… in anger. As if somebody had something torn from them."

"Freaky." Eil muttered. His eyes drifted off a bit towards the trees that lined the area, off down a dark path. Something about that path felt the most intense, like _something_ was still there. He knew there couldn't have been anything, but… it was still there, and it was vastly unsettling to him. _"Of the Magus families that lived in Fuyuki, there was the Tohsaka and the Matou… I know the Tohsakas are fine, Rin is here after all, but the Matous went weirdly silent. Reports said they were having issues producing proper heirs but, ten years ago, a Grail War was supposed to be held here, but it never came to pass. I wonder, did the event that prevented the Grail War have to do with both the odd disappearance of the Einzberns and Matous?"_

Eil glanced over at Illya as the thought came to mind. There was a thought in mind to him. He knew Illya wasn't aware of her true lineage now, much less who her father was. He wanted to pose the question, to find answers. Something inside of him desired those answers, a rampant sense of curiosity he'd always felt throughout his life. But his better sense of self told him otherwise. He didn't want to drag Illya further into this world. If the truth really _was_ that she was the heir to the Einzbern bloodline, then it would mean no pleasant story would await her future.

"Let's not stand around and get this done." Lluvia said. Miyu and Illya nodded, opening the gates and transporting everyone.

The move into the Mirror World only made the location all the creepier. The fog that hanged over the dark space made the already ominous feel of the grounds of this mansion worse than it was before. But the weirdest part however, had to be the silence. It was simple to assume that with the amount of time that had past, the remaining two Cards would have also manifested in their distortions. But the quiet… it was different. It was defeaning, and felt like something was watching them.

"Anyone else have a bad feeling, or am I just being paranoid?" Eil muttered, everyone scanning the tree line for any potential signs of a presence.

"No enemies, no Card… what's going on?" Lluvia murmured.

"This couldn't be the wrong place, could it?" Illya asked, Rin shaking her head.

"That's impossible. As long as we can enter the Mirror World here, then a Card has to exist." Rin stated.

"I see, that makes sense." Illya remarked, looking up, "Speaking of which, isn't the dimension kind of small this time?"

"I take it that means the distortions are shrinking as we collect the Cards." Eil remarked, "When this started out, they'd be several kilometers in radius at best."

"Wow…" Illya murmured.

"Yeup. Pretty crazy stuff huh?" Eil remarked. And in the following moment, he and Illya suddenly went red in the face, turning away from each other as they both awkwardly shuffled in different manners.

"No use in complaining about it. Let's start searching around." Lluvia said.

"Yeah yeah." Eil muttered. But, as he stepped off, he felt a sudden twinge in the air. A shock to his mind, like a warning signal had just gone off. His body then instantly reacted, his hand stretching out, a flash of blue producing the black Excalibur into his grip. The sword flew up as Eil dashed in front of Illya as the girl turned around. The heavy sound of metal clashing into metal rang through the air and got everyone's attention immediately. "Screw looking… the Servant found us first!"

The Servant who Eil's blade had countered was simply, easy enough to call, at least in appearance, a samurai. Flowing eastern robes with an armored coat, long hair, and an _odachi_ nearly as long as the Servant himself was tall. But like the others before him, this Servant was blackened, twisted. Eil could feel it coming from the sword itself, the weapon far from pristine, instead, it was scratched, chipped, like something that did nothing more than hack away without a care.

"We already fought Saber… so just who the hell are you?!" Eil growled as he forced his sword forward, catching the _odachi_ on the guard of his blade, wrenching the Servant back and shoving him away, surprise coming across his face as he achieved it without the need of his enhancement spells, "What the… that took effort but… ohh… it makes sense." A smirk spread across his face as the data flowed into his mind, "Looks like this is Assassin! We're getting off easy today!"

"Alright! Illya, don't hold back, go to town!" Rin yelled, Lluvia laughing as she threw out a hand.

"Miyu, blow that Servant away!" Lluvia laughed.

Illya and Miyu joined Eil at the front as he called out his spells to enhance himself again. His sword flew up to block Assassin's blade as it came at him again. IN quick response to this, the Servant was very quickly blasted in the side by Miyu at near pointblank range. Assassin was shot off into the tree line. The Servant's attempt to recover was met by Illya launching a blast of her own at it from afar, the Servant blocking with his sword, skidding back into the open ground.

"Sorry to shame a samurai like this, but now's not the time for honor!" Eil snapped, rushing back in and thrusting his sword forward. Assassin moved his blade to deflect it, Eil shifting his weight as the blade moved, switching his grip to his left hand, black mist bursting around the sword as Eil spun around and swung it again, the wave of dark mist blowing Assassin back.

"Shoot!" A large mana ball charged at Miyu's staff as she shot into the air when Assassin charged again, nailing the Servant square in the chest. Eil took the opening to dash in again, mist wreathing Excalibur as he swung it again and blasted Assassin with a wide swing of the sword.

"Ruby!" Illya shouted to the stick as she dashed forward in the air, sticking low to the ground as she held Ruby downwards, her grip on the stick more akin to holding a sword. She shot past the linger traces of the dark mist as Assassin reeled in the air, and with a yell from Illya, she swung the stick. Though, now it was less of a stick, and Eil saw the flash of a blade through the air.

The air went still for a moment as the drifting of energy fell away. Illya stood straight and swiped the sword now in her hands, and Assassin collapsed onto the ground.

"Ahahah, it worked! My idea really worked!" Illya cheered as she spun a bit, spinning the sword she'd produced from Ruby. As opposed to Rin's version, the staff had shortened to a more typical hilt size, the "guard" being Ruby herself, with a full blade extending from the top of the Mystic Code.

"What was that?!" Eil asked, everyone else looking various degrees of surprise, Illya silent for a moment, her only motion being a few blinks.

"Well, I mean magic blasts are good and all, but I figured if I fight somebody who can get close, I'd need some kind of weapon, right?" Illya said, lifting up the sword in her hand, palming the flat of the sword, "And after I saw Rin make a sword herself, I figured it would be a good idea to make one of my own. Though I guess I was more inspired by you, Eil. Ehehehehe."

"Good idea, Illya." Miyu stated, then looking down, "But… if we defeated Assassin, then why hasn't his body vanished yet?"

"Eh?" Eil noticed that factor. Everyone then noticed how Assassin had yet to fade. Instead, the body of the Servant just stayed there, motionless on the ground. "That's… weird… there couldn't be another Servant around could it?"

"What? That's ridiculous! One Card, one Servant!" Rin said, though then she also looked suspicious about it, "But… that is odd. Keep your eyes open then! Scan around a bit!"

"It could just be taking longer." Lluvia said, a glare coming from both Eil and Rin making her fall silent, "But you're right, we can't take chances with this, get to looking around!"

While everyone immediately moved off to look around the area, she didn't move much. She felt something odd in the air, something coming from the body of the Servant. She knelt down a bit, and her eyes went wide a bit. She could've _sworn_ she saw something twitch. Could Assassin still be alive? But, it felt odd. There wans't any other movement. No sign of any kind of breathing… but did Servants even breath? Illya at least assumed so. The bodies may have been made of mana, but they _were_ physical, in a way. So then why could it have been twitching?

"Ruby, do you think anything about this weird?" Illya said, reverting Ruby to her staff mode, poking the Servant with the rear end of the stick, "It's still twitching… something's odd about this, don't you think?"

"Be careful Illya-san, you never know." Ruby remarked, Illya nodding.

" _Something about this is just strange… wrong even."_ Eil thought, muttering incoherently as he put his arms behind his head. But then, something struck him. A sudden feeling of nausea overtook him as he suddenly felt warmer as well. He suddenly felt a flash. The image in front of him changed. He saw something dark, something bursting from Assassin as well as a scream… and then just as suddenly a blinding flash, and still with a piercing, terrified scream in the air, "Agh… w-what the hell… what… what was that?!"

"Hey everyone, I think something weird is going on here." Illya said, Eil turning around. It was a sudden realization that came to him as she saw the twitching coming from Assassin. He still felt nauseous, but the danger sense in his head was going off like crazy.

"Illya, get away from there now!" Eil shouted, Illya looking to him with a confused expression.

The scene to follow was something Eil could only call something out of a horror show. Assassin's body violently spasmed, and then the chest of the body suddenly _exploded,_ gore flying everywhere and getting on the shocked Illya. A shriek of nothing but pure panic and fear rose from Illya's throat in the moment to follow, only furthered when a dark limb suddenly burst from the body of Assassin, grabbing the closet thing, Illya. The terrified girl was held by her throat as terror overtook her expression as she watched as the arm rose up more, something _climbing out_ of Assassin's body. A second limb slammed onto the ground, the figure that rose out of the dead Servant shrouded in black, the drifting mist coming from it making it seem almost like a phantom. Illya's terror only escalated as she was lifted into the air and thrown aside, her body shaking as the phantom rose fully from the body, a skull mask showing under the dark hood, it's stark white contrasting with the shadow cast by the cloak's hood.

"Illya!" Eil and Miyu's voices pierced the air as they shouted. But, to Illya, it was like things slowed down.

The new enemy shifted an arm, daggers falling into place between its fingers. The sight of those wicked blades made her remember the previous fight. The way even one blast from Saber was enough to cut her arm, to draw blood, cause pain. Compounded with the sudden panic from the earlier moment, it was like something in her mind suddenly shifted.

" _Knives… a blade… pain… blood. All because I stood there…"_ Illya's mind was stuck on the one before her. She shirked again when the enemy threw one of it's knives, only being saved because Eil dashed in front of her and blocked it.

"Illya, don't just sit there!" Eil shouted, standing firm as he barred his blade against the new enemy, "I know that had to have scared you, but you can't stand around… you could die if you don't move!"

" _Die… I could… I could actually die."_ That one word slammed Illya like a hammer to the head. She flinched when the enemy attacked, Eil parrying the blow and driving the cloaked phantom away, but, Illya remained still, shuddering. She had hardly thought about it before now. Until the fight with Saber, she'd been thinking about all of this like it was some ridiculous magical girl happening. That it wouldn't get that serious. It couldn't have, that wasn't how this kind of story worked, wasn't it?

But, she was realizing it… this wasn't that kind of story at all. The blood on her face, marring her clothes right now, that had stained her white gloves red, the violent clash of weapons between Eil and their real enemy, suddenly made it clear. This was not a magical girl story… this was something worse, something horrifying at the core of its true being.

"There's more enemies!" Miyu's added shout got everyone's attention as well. From the woods, more of the specters appeared. Each one was dark, some in cloaks, some not, but all of them bore one similar feature. White masks of bone, with a singular hole in them that gazed out like some kind of eye, or more like one was staring at the abyss, and it had chosen to look back.

"Number of enemies is at fifty… no, greater!" Sapphire said, Rin and Lluvia looking at the stick that had spoken.

"What?! How the hell is this possible?!" Rin shouted, the others falling back to make a circle, Illya desperately moving to get up and join them.

"Nobody told me anything about an army!" Lluvia shouted, she and Rin throwing jewels out into the masses, Eil shoving his engaged foe away with a heavy blow.

"Come on, we can get through!" Eil shouted, already turning to head down the path Rin and Lluvia had carved out.

"R-Right!" Illya stumbled a bit as she ran, Eil turning as he faced forward.

"Illyasviel, Miyu, focus your fire to the front! We'll break through their encirclement!" Lluvia shouted, she and Rin rushing ahead.

"No holding back!" Eil shouted. He gasped again when another twinge hit him. His sword flew up and deflected an incoming thrown dagger, the blast of mana tearing through the enemies in front of it. But then a sudden pain pierced his left shoulder as he turned again. The sudden shift in weight made him reel back and hit the ground. His eyes shifted as a wet, warm feeling began coming from his left shoulder. He looked down a bit, and the hilt of a dagger was protruding from his shoulder, the blade having pierced his jacket, despite the enchantments meant to make it stronger. "When did this…"

"Eil, focus!" Rin shouted, moving in front of Eil and swiping away more daggers that flew at him, "Can you move?!"

"Yeah it just… AAAGGGHHH!" Eil suddenly released a yell as he tried to move his left arm, which only invited a sudden, piercing agony to shoot through him, which caused him to collapse onto the ground, "Naaaghhh! Not okay, definitely… AGGGHHH DAMMIT THIS IS… AGGHHH!"

"Eh?" Illya suddenly ground to a halt as she saw the sight before her. Even if they'd only known each other for a few days, she'd never expected this. To see Eil writing on the ground, in abject agony as his hand clutched at his pierced shoulder and pained screams met every attempt to try and move, another, even louder scream coming from him as he forcibly grabbed the knife with his right hand and forcefully pulled it free, which was accompanied by a spray of blood from it that splattered across the ground, and she could see a line of blood moving down his mouth, a nick in his lower lip.

" _He's hurt… he's… he's bleeding…"_ Illya shuddered again at the sight before her, Eil shakily lifting himself up as the others rushed to him. The sense of panic was still in her mind, only made worse by this sudden show. This wasn't like a hero powering through pain to stand tall. It was agony, pure and unrestrained. She'd seen someone she'd come to view as strong screaming in pure agony in a way that sounded _alien_ to her.

And it terrified her. It again landed that hammer blow to Illya, that this was real, that it wasn't some happy story. And then, another dagger flew… aimed for Eil's neck, right where he couldn't see it.

"N-Noooo!" Illya's voice let out the scream, and that was when it all seemed to slow down. _"It feels like a checkmate… their decisions were calm, accurate… our enemy wasn't even that strong… but we lost one move. But… it's wrong! He can't die because of one mistake, one thing he couldn't see! But not just Eil… at this rate… all of us… me… Miyu, Rin-san, Lluvia-san… that's not right! All of us dying? This isn't right… this isn't the world I live in… I have to protect them."_

With that one thought, something changed. Illya's eyes turned golden, and a sudden light burst from her. The knife heading for EIl, and all the others that had been sent flying as well, vanished. The light grew to be utterly blinding. And then, all at once, it gathered, and exploded. The torrent of power was violent, brilliant, but terrifying all at once.

And once it was gone, hardly anything was left. The Assassin Card was lodged into the crater that had formed, and Illya stood at the center of it. Her eyes had returned to their normal red, but witnessing everything around her, they were wide, terrified of what had happened… what she'd done.

The only other clear patch was one behind twin barriers, one made by Eil, and the other made by MIyu. But even then, Eil, Miyu, Rin, and Lluvia all looked roughed up. And for Eil, it only looked worse, because as the barrier fell, he immediately put a hand over his injured shoulder, letting out barely held in yelp fro the sudden jolt of pain it caused.

"Illya…" Miyu murmured, Illya slowly shaking her head as she took in the complete devastation around her. The crater was massive, having cleared an entire stretch of the ground and even causing the burnt out mansion to be caught in the blast.

"What is this?" Illya murmured, her voice choking out the words, "Did I… did I do this?"

"Illya… just…" Eil stopped himself when he saw the look on Illya's face. It was fear. The girl had finally had it sink in just what kind of world she'd stepped into. And after this, the terror of what had happened to her and what she'd seen, had caused it all to come crashing down on her. Eil could only bunch his hand at his still bleeding shoulder as he saw tears starting to fall down Illya's face.

"No I… I didn't… I didn't think something like this would…" Illya murmured, shaking her head, her teeth gritting, "I'm sorry I just… I didn't want any of you to get hurt and I… I… I'm sorry, but I can't do this!"

"Illya, wait!" Eil shouted as Illya gripped Ruby and swiped the stick, suddenly vanishing through a magic circle. When it was silent again, the fingers of his left hand closed up, slowly, but tightly, his fingernails digging into his palm, "Dammit… I didn't want something like this to happen…"

"You can't predict everything." Miyu said, grabbing the Class Card, examining it closely, "None of us could have seen that coming… it was a close call… but at least we erected a barrier fast enough."

"Why does that matter?!" Eil snapped, and there was raw emotion in his voice, "Didn't you see her face?! Illya was terrified! She saw the worst this twisted world of ours has to offer all at once! She's just a normal girl, and we dragged her into our mess! We may have been ready for something like this, but she wasn't! I don't care if it was a close call or not… what I care about right now, is that we messed up, and now, our friend has seen the worst of this world of ours, a world that isn't hers to begin with!"

"I know that." Miyu said, her tone tense, and darker. "But what choice is there? If we don't gather the Cards, then what would happen to this city? Don't Magi move forward regardless of the consequences?"

"That. Isn't. The. Point." Eil turned around as what was barely more than a growl came out of his throat, and Miyu flinched at his expression. It was a different kind of pain, emotional pain. His expression was a vain attempt at being stoic as angry tears marked his face. "It's that…"

"Maybe after we're out of here?!" Rin cut in as the dimension showed signs of beginning to collapse in on itself. Eil let out another growl as he looked to the side, Miyu quickly opening the transport circle and pulling them back to the real world.

And Illya was nowhere to be seen. Odds were, she'd already run home.

"So, she's gone." Lluvia murmured, glancing at Eil, "How about you, your shoulder took a bad hit."

"I'll be fine." Eil muttered even as he began wincing like the pain still wasn't done with, "It's nothing… just the sudden shock."

But, Miyu saw something else. It was hard to notice due to his hand, but she could see a soft glow under his hand, a white one. And from it, she felt some kind of heat in the air as well. One could think it was just a warm breeze, but the air was almost completely still… it had to be something else.

Eil then sucked in a breath and released it. He'd clearly managed to calm himself a bit.

"Don't misunderstand me, Miyu." Eil said, his hand slipping from his shoulder, and there was a sad look in his eyes, "I'm… glad we're friends with Illya but… I didn't want this kind of thing to happen to her. You know as well as I do, she wasn't raised a magus. She's not prepared for this kind of thing… for this kind of ugly truth of the world."

"I know." Miyu's tone was strained, and despite her usual stoic expression, the way she gripped her arm betrayed more than her face could, "But that's what this kind of thing means… if you don't go in prepared for it, then you've failed."

"Hey, that's a little harsh don't you think?!" Rin said, giving a sigh, "Eil's right. Illya didn't grow up like we did. She was normal. We magi are expected to face this kind of thing… she never was."

"Honestly, her fear after seeing _that_ is entirely understandable." Lluvia added, folding her arms, or more precisely, hugging herself, "It takes a special kind of person to see _that_ and remain unshaken."

"I'll go talk to her tomorrow." Eil said, putting his hand on his shoulder again, "The best thing we can do right now is just… wait, see how she reacts, what she does. We still have a week to get the last Card… I recommend we all just cool off for a bit before we take care of it."

"Yeah that's… that's probably for the best." Rin said, shaking her head, "Man, this is all kinds of weird…"

"I thought the point was to gather the cards as quickly as we could." Miyu said, Lluvia shaking her head.

"You're not wrong, but… sometimes Miyu, people need time to slow down and collect themselves. I admit… what we saw today got to me a bit. I'd like to take a siesta myself… especially since our last foe will be Berserker." Lluvia said, and that added a sudden hanging feeling of dread, "We'd do best… to prepare as much as we can."

"Tch… hate to agree with her, but she's right." Rin muttered, biting her thumb, "Our last opponent… and it just had to be the worst Class, didn't it?"

"We'll figure it out." Eil said, stepping past the gate and onto the road, "But before our final battle… let's just stop for a moment and rest, and plan… and get everything sorted out, so that there's no loose ends."

Eil looked up at the night sky as he spoke. The sky was oddly clear for a city as big as Fuyuki, dozens of stars were still visible in the night sky. But, his eyes went to a particular one, Polaris.

" _A Zvezda is guided by the stars in the sky, following the asterisms that form its lines… go where your heart says to, and don't look back."_ Eil thought, reciting to himself the family saying, _"Before fighting Berserker, before ending this… I need to learn the truth about Illya… about what happened to the Einzberns… and why Illya was able to do something like that. I won't be able to finish this until I know the truth…"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Man busting this out in one night was a thing, but eesh, so very worth it! Emotional fallouts everybody! See ya next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 11: Answers**

"Haaagh… no turning back from here."

Eil sighed to himself as he stood at the gate to the Einzbern house. With the new day being overcast, he felt like the weather itself was reflecting the overall mood he felt. After last night, he could only use the word "grim" to describe how some of this felt at the time. With Illya having ran, and Miyu's attitude about the event, a troubled feeling was what pervaded Eil's mind.

As he'd expected, Illya hadn't been at school that day. After the events of last night, he couldn't blame her for it. She wasn't a magus. Those kind of things weren't something she'd been taught from a young age could, and would, happen in a way that she could see. The likes of him, Rin, and Lluvia were. While they would find such a horrible thing perturbing, they'd long since learned to remain calm and rational under those kinds of situations.

But again, that key difference came to mind for Eil. Illya wasn't a magus. But that only made more questions come to mind. If she didn't know who she was as an Einzbern, then it only brought along a bunch of other questions.

And for Eil, there was an insatiable desire for him to understand that. Since a young age, he'd learned very quickly he had an overwhelming sense of curiosity. A desire to learn, to know, that pervaded his thoughts to the point of unwavering determination to learn the truth behind whatever piqued that curiosity.

With another sigh, Eil passed the gate and knocked on the doorway. With a moment of silence following it, Sella answered the door… though this time, she seemed far less surprised to see him.

"Uh… hey." Eil said, "Is uh… is Illya doing alright? She wasn't at school today."

"She's fine just… taking the day off for… reasons." Sella said, Eil putting a hand behind his head, "Notes and homework, right?"

"Yeah…" Eil muttered… then another sigh came from his mouth, "Okay, actually, you know damn well why I'm here, don't you, Einzbern?"

"Haaahhh… I honestly hoped something like this would never come to pass." Sella muttered, looking at Eil near coldly, "Though I didn't quite expect _that woman's_ son to be the one darkening our doorway about this. For whatever reason I had expected Madame Galina to end up here for some reason."

"It's far less surprising to me that you know my mom than it should be." Eil muttered, his hands sliding into his pockets, "So am I gonna be stuck standing outside?"

"Hugh… no avoiding it now. Come on in." Sella stepped aside to allow Eil to enter the house. He easily caught the sound of her locking the door once he was through the threshold. Eil was guided into the living room next, Sella going off to the side, while Leys was lounging as usual for her on the sofa. "Leys, perhaps we should do some reintroductions between ourselves and Illya's… "friend"… here."

"Huh? Are you talkin' about the fact he looks like that weird lady we met years ago?" Leys' remark got Eil to flinch a bit. He had not been expecting the two maids to be readily knowledgeable of who he was from appearance alone. Last he checked he and his mother shared barely a passing resemblance, "I mean, it's all in the eyes with this one."

" _Dammit, I always forget about that one. The one thing about our Trait that might as well be a goddamn ID tag to the ones who actually know about it."_ Eil gave a hiss as he brought a hand to his face. "I get the distinct feeling there's something you wanna know from me before I'll even get a chance to ask… considering you _also_ shut and locked the door leading out of here."

"At least you're perceptive." Sella said, stepping away from the mentioned door. She calmly took a chair, and then nodding. "But, yes, there is something I want to know. What is it that Illya has been getting up to? If it involves a Zvezda then it can't be something simple. Your clan has something of a reputation for always showing up when something big happens."

"We met your mom when that whole Grail War thing was gonna happen like… how long ago was it now?"

"Almost sixteen years, Leys."

"Thanks Sella."

" _The same age as me and Illya…"_ Eil thought. With the eyes of the two young women on him though, and the fact he was locked in, he started thinking on it. True he could probably easy break out of the place and run, but it's not why he was here. Of anything this was the perfect chance to get some of the answers he was looking for, "To the point then. I was sent her alongside the heirs of the Tohsaka and Edelfelt on orders from the Clocktower… well, less the clocktower, more my mentor, Zelretch. Some anomalies that appeared here in Fuyuki several years ago became abnormal to the point something had to be done… and these anomalies, are these Cards."

Reaching into his pocket, Eil produced the Saber card. If he wanted to get answers from the two, then he couldn't be restrictive. Not like he followed the normal rules of a Clocktower magus anyway, so why would he have to care?

"That's… Saber… Servants?" Sella said. Eil didn't find it that surprising it turned out the maid was knowledgeable about this, "But, how? Lady Irisviel and Sir Kiritsugu had…"

"Had what?" Eil responded, Sella going silent. Seems he had to say more. "Hah… but in the short, after some… _problems_ caused by the Mystic Codes Zelretch lent Tohsaka and Edelfelt ditching them to find new Masters… Illya was picked out by one of them, and we had to get her help to collect these things."

"WHAT?!" Sella shot to her feet immediately, Eil staying firmly put in place, "You're saying that… Illya's been going out every night for the past week to _fight Servants?!"_

"Yes." Eil responded. There was no getting out the obvious anger in Sella's voice. He was pretty sure the woman would've been trying to throttle him if she knew she could get away with it. "Look, we didn't _force her_ if that's what you're thinking. We explained the situation to Illya and why we needed her help, since the damn stick that contracted to her is a stubborn pain in the ass. The simple fact of the matter is that Illya agreed to help us of her own free will. But, last night… ugh… she saw just how _ugly_ the world of a magus can really be. While we were collecting the Assassin Card, the Servant we fought had turned out to… I dunno, it was either some kind of decoy or just something even stranger than that. But…"

The image flashed through Eil's mind again. Of the brutal way in which the real Assassin had appeared, and Illya's terrified expression at having been right in the face of that kind of thing. It was something he didn't have words to put to.

"In short it just wasn't something Illya was prepared to see. It's just… hard to describe." Eil stated, his hands tightening up, "Look, I don't have any kind of excuse to offer. All I can say is it's something I hadn't wanted to happen, but the matter is that it _did._ Now we're here."

"Illya having to fight… and Servants of all things… no wonder she had that fever the other day. We must have been right about what happened."

"Right about _what?"_

"Zevzda boy, you'd be aware of the inner workings of the Grail War, right?" Sella asked, Eil nodding, "Then it won't be hard to explain. Any magus would know about the three founding clans of the ritual."

"Obviously. Tohsaka, Makiri, or, well, now it's Matou I think, and the Einzbern. The Einzberns in particular created the Greater Grail that ran the Wars before _something_ happened sixteen years ago. It had always been the job of the Einzbern clan to provide the… wait…" Eil was already coming to the conclusion himself as he spoke. His thought process had started working, connecting dots. The reason why Illya, a completely normal girl with no training as a magus whatsoever, could have such a natural talent for the craft and such a deep well of mana reserves within her… there was only one answer he was able to come to.

And it wasn't one he liked.

"The thought had come to mind a couple of days ago." Sella said, tenting her hands, "There was evidence a seal on Illya had been unlocked for a short time. The thing is, it was the kind of seal that could only open if she was facing life or death circumstances."

"For the record, at the time I thought that she was overthinking it." Leys said, then tilting her head to one side, "Guess I was wrong. If it's a Zvezda than it's gotta be some kind of dangerous mess.

"And if you're talking a seal, then it was locking away some kind of power." Eil said, a long sigh escaping him, "The power of the Holy Grail itself. Am I right?"

"Yes." Sella answered, one hand tightening on her sleeve, "Illya was born with the power of the Grail inside of her. The ability to become the vessel when the time was necessary. That… isn't the life her parents wanted for her."

" _Her father is the Magus Killer himself… I don't need to put a lot of thought into why the Einzbern clan suddenly went totally silent, knowing that."_ Eil let out a breath again. Eyes were on him now. "Right… that explains it… last night, Assassin caught us off guard. We hadn't expected it to be a gestalt comprising well over fifty bodies… and as a result of that, I got injured. With what Illya saw before that, and then seeing what it's actually like for somebody to be injured in that way… I think that seal you're talking about came undone again. There was just… this _outpour_ of mana that came from her. It was nothing short of an explosion that destroyed everything around it. After that, well… she panicked and ran."

"She had a fever again this morning, and the same signs as before." Sella remarked, putting a hand to her chin, "Dammit… of all the things to be happening, why something like this, and why now? Was there really no choice in the matter for all of this?"

"Like I said before, Illya chose this herself. She could have chosen not to, and I would've taken the Mystic Code back. I know a spell to cancel their contracts thanks to my Mentor. The simple fact of the matter is she saw how bad things _can_ be the other day." Eil stated, and he didn't flinch when Sella shot over to him, clearly incensed, "And I'm not saying I don't feel a bit of responsibility for that… honestly had things been able to go smoother I doubt Illya wouldn't haven come close to being involved. But neither of us can change the fact she is… and so I have to deal with the consequences of those events."

"Tch… who'd have thought there'd be a day one would meet a magus who actually cares about people in a normal fashion." Sella stepped over to the door and undid the lock, the woman giving a sigh, "Go talk to her. It's what you're here for, right?"

"Yeah… thanks." Eil said. As he stepped out, he stopped for a moment though, "I honestly don't want her to get hurt… I actually kind of like Illya. And I promise, if she decides not to fight anymore, then I won't try and do something to hold her to it… we may only have one more Card to go, but, it's her decision to make. So, I'll respect whatever she decides to do."

After Eil headed up the steps, a moment of silence was left to the maids, Sella giving a long sigh.

"He'd make a good boyfriend." Leys remarked, Sella yelping.

"Don't say weird things!"

"What? Illya's at that age, isn't she?"

"You're making it sound like he's here for something else!"

"I mean one day it could be."

"STOOOOOP!"

* * *

"This is familiar… but now entirely different." Eil deeply sighed as he stood in front of Illya's door, his hand raised but not yet knocking on the door. It took him a moment more to do so, but it was almost like a hollow echo, "Hey, uh, Illya? It's me, Eil I was… I just wanted to check in on you after… last night and all of that so… hagh… look, I know what you saw scared you, I don't blame you for that. The only difference between you and me there is that I was taught to expect those kinds of things. It's a hard truth but, the world we magi inhabit isn't that pretty… I wouldn't blame you if you decided to back out of all of this."

Eil placed his forehead on the door as he spoke. He wasn't even sure if Illya was awake to hear what he was saying. Something told him she was though, and trusting his gut was something he'd long learned to do.

"Your life was basically normal up until now. And it suddenly changing… it's understandable you'd be scared. Especially after… _that._ Illya, it's up to you whether or not you want to back out of this and go back to that life, or wrap this up… I'm not here to try and convince you of anything, I swear. I just… want to hear it from you personally." Eil was met with another moment of silence… and the he heard an exasperated grumble.

"Ahhhh! I can't stand this kind of tense silence!" Ruby's voice is what he heard, and then the door flew open, something flying around and smacking Eil on the back of the head, "Get in here!"

Eil tumbled to the floor no thanks to the blow he'd received, getting up on a hand and grumbling a few curses as he held the spot where he'd been hit, a glare moving up to Ruby as the stick flitted into his view. Though with another look, he saw Illya sitting on the bed, in what he could only call wrapped up as a "blanket burrito" as she sat on the bed.

"Uh… hi." Illya murmured, Eil standing up completely, where Illya retreated a bit into her "shell."

"So… there was all that I said, so uh…" Eil muttered, putting a hand behind his head.

"No, I get it but… hey uh… do you want to go out somewhere?" Illya's tone was off. Despite her attempt to smile as she asked the question, Eil could tell it was more "I want to get out of here" than anything… but maybe there would be a better chance to talk outside of this room. At least, that was the intent he managed to gather from it. "Just so… you know, we could at least walk around?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Eil said, but his thoughts were elsewhere, _"I wonder… how different could this situation be if Illya was aware of who she really is? Who knows… not really a question I need to be asking now, is it?"_

* * *

The walk through town between Eil and Illya had started silent and stayed that way for a while. It remained that way for a while until the two reached a park.

"You know… part of me right now is just thinking 'I don't want to see any more of those scary things.'" Illya said, stopping and looking up at the overcast sky.

"That's… understandable." Eil said, pocketing his hands.

"And, honestly, at first, I did it for fun, and out of curiosity. It was like some wacky dream from my childhood had come true y'know?" Illya said, her hands bunching the hem of her skirt, "But, even though I became a magical girl, all I actually did was risk my life in battle. And I've already nearly died once or twice. I never had the reason… or the resolve to fight."

"You know, there's nothing to be ashamed of in being scared." Eil leaned against a nearby bench, a bit tenderly on his left arm as it was. Illya couldn't help but look at the spot where he'd been injured. She was sure the injury was probably tightly wrapped up. She still couldn't get that horrible image out of her head though… the sight of Eil's face contorted in agony haunted her. "Honestly most people probably would've backed out after just fighting Caster. But you stuck around. You honestly wanted to learn more about all of this, and despite things, I did have fun teaching you."

"Yeah it… it was fun." Illya said, her hands going into tight fists, "But… I didn't know things could be that scary or that… there was a chance any of us could be hurt that badly."

"I… don't have much to say to that." Eil muttered, a hand at his left shoulder, "When I was being taught about things particular to my family back home in Russia, it just kind of became commonplace. I was taught from a young age how to tolerate pain. That even when it hurt enough that I was screaming, I was to grit my teeth and power through it, because the one who did it wouldn't stop to let me catch my breath. Course though, I'm a mage with an unspecialized magic that covers a lot of bases. I have some edges in versatility others don't. But… that's just me."

"How though?" Illya asked, still stuck staring at where Eil had been stabbed, "I mean… yesterday, from how you looked, it was hard to… and then… ugh… I can barely think straight right now, it just… none of it makes any sense now… what I did back there… when I fought Saber…"

"What?" Eil looked surprised as Illya said that, the girl holding one of her arms, a solemn look on her face.

"After what happened… I remembered everything that happened. How I fought Saber… and how I used the Archer Card." Illya said, "But, it's so strange. I remember it, but it doesn't feel like a memory _I_ have. It felt like… like somebody else was in control then. Like I wasn't the one who had acted at the time. I just don't get it… is… is something wrong with me?"

" _Now how the hell do I answer that?! I can't just up and say "oh, you were born to be a vessel for the Holy-freaking-Grail and it makes you stupid kinds of power!"… stupid! That's not the kind of thing you can tell someone when they're like this… I mean she's probably going to learn eventually, Illya's inquisitive but… dammit, how can I answer that without making this worse?"_ Eil gave a sigh as the thought went across his mind, though at least something came to mind. "Well… I'm not exactly a normal magus myself either. I mean, c'mon, I have a bloodline trait that gives me _speckled blue eyes_ and is the only reason I can even use the magic that I do. So… I guess we're both in the same boat as being kind of strange. But… I can't really say anything for sure about that."

Eil's voice stopped dead when he was about to say something else. It would have been an attempt to lighten the mood, but he knew that just wouldn't have worked out. Illya caught the intent of the silence. She honestly hadn't expected much anyway.

"Yeah… I guess we both are."

"So… well, if you decide you don't want to fight, I won't hold it against you." Eil said, Illya glancing back at him, "I mean, I could definitely try to. I mean, our last enemy is a bloody Berserker by process of elimination. I'd say we need all of the help we can get. But… I want to respect whatever decision you make about all of this." Though then another thing came to mind…. _"Shit… saying that out loud sounded way too much like I was trying to guilt trip her, didn't it? It came across as guilt tripping, didn't it?! Stupid stupid stupid! I meant what I said about wanting to respect her choice, but it coming after all of that, it sounds like a stupid guilt trip attempt!"_

"Right…" Illya's hands bunch up again. And Eil was rather thankful he could keep his cool without much trouble, since he was still mentally freaking out, "Eil, I'm sorry but… right now, I just don't know. I don't want any of you to get hurt again, and I'm not so dumb as to think my life can just go back to normal now. There's still so many questions I want to ask, things I want to learn… but I still can't decide if I want those answers more than I want that normalcy I had before… no, that's not right. It's more just… I don't know if I have the same kind of resolve you do. The resolve to know how ugly this world can be, and look at it without being horribly shaken up."

"Heh… well, you're definitely more mature than some people would initially take you for." Eil hummed, sliding his hands into his pockets, "Again, I won't blame you if you choose not to fight. That's entirely your choice. After all…" Eil then lifted his right hand up, extending his index finger until it was pointing skyward, "For Zvezdas like me, we follow the stars. Whether we can see them or not, that's where we get our paths. Just so you know, we're not going to fight Berserker until the day after tomorrow so… well, whatever you decide to do, I at least promise none of us will hold it against you. And besides… I'm sticking around for a while longer anyway so… not like we won't be seeing each other after this is all said and done."

"Eil, w-wait, before you leave…" Illya reached into her pocket as Eil turned to leave, the young man stopping and turning back around. When Illya put her arm out, Eil saw that she was holding the Archer Card out to him. "I… I'm going to think about it. I may not be sure but… I know I don't want things to just end with that but I… I know I can't go into another fight when I'm unsure like this. So… please take this Card with you. Consider it a lucky charm from me to you."

"Hehe, then I'll be sure to put it to good use." Eil said, taking the Card and pocketing it, a casual smile coming to his face, "So then… see ya' at school tomorrow, yeah?"

"S-Sure!" Illya waved as Eil trotted off, and he returned the gesture as he began to vanish from view. And that was when a massive breath escaped from Illya as she hunched over a bit, "Uggh god… I started getting really nervous there! I know it wasn't a date but-AHHH! Why is this the first thing I start thinking about?! I mean… not that I wouldn't wanna go on a date with him but… AH! No, be serious Illya, SERIOUS!"

* * *

"And now I'm here for the fourth time." Eil didn't even bother with a sense of politeness and downright barged into the central chapel of the church. His eyes scanned around, again searching for any possible tricks… and he got his answer when he was suddenly snared from behind him and yanked him down onto his back. And of course, the one to greet him was Caren, looking down at him with a wry smirk on her face.

"Oh look at what I caught." Caren hummed, Eil's expression flat in return.

"Haha… can you unbind me so we can get this routine overwith?"

"Sure… but let's go to the garden first."

"Huh?! Wait don't drag me there dammit!"

Eil tried to struggle free as Caren, surprisingly, started pulling him along by the end of the shroud that she was holding. A few moments later, and he was free, pulling himself up to view the simple garden of the church. The central part was left open to the air… but it again made him wonder where the bloody hell they got the funding to make a CHURCH this nice of a place.

"Again, more and more questions… I just can't catch a break with this stuff." Eil muttered, dusting himself off. He chose to lean on a pillar, while Caren sat on the nearby bench, producing her notepad as well. "Last time was Assassin. It pulled one heck of a surprise on us by somehw decoying as another Servant… _then_ the real one appeared from its corpse."

"Interesting. I would've liked to have seen that." Caren remarked, "So what of Assassin's identity, hmm?"

"Hassan-i-Sabah. Or at least, one of the many people who _had_ that name." Eil stated, turning the Assassin Card in his hand, "Something feels a bit unique about this card. Considering it relates to Hassan, it could be possible that it encompasses all of the Servants who embody the idea of "Hassan" as a whole."

"Ah, I see. Because the identity of Hassan was not owned by a single person in history, the theory stands that Card is, in short, potentially all of them. Perhaps, it would vary by the user." Caren remarked. Eil was somewhat thankful he hadn't told her what an Install was. Considering he lacked an understanding of it, there wasn't a point in relaying that full information, yet. "And so… that only leaves your lot with Berserker to take care of. Sounds fun."

"If we're lucky Berserker might just be a crappy one… but with how things have been, considering we fought bloody King Arthur… I don't have high hopes." Eil pocketed the Card he was holding, giving yet another sigh.

"Well whatever happens, I don't care so much as long as the job is finished." Caren set the notebook down, and then looked at Eil, "You have this expression that says something is bothering you."

"I do not."

"It's the eyes. They can say a lot more about a person than you might actually think they do."

"Why is it always my damn eyes?" Eil muttered. When he looked down, Caren had again chosen to invade his personal space, "Do you just like getting uncomfortably close to me?"

"Somewhat."

"Not even an attempt to deny it huh? Geez you're strange…"

"Yes and so are you, Zvezda." Caren then looked to Eil's shoulder, giving a hum, "Another injury… and that same kind of warm feeling I felt from it as the last time you showed up heavily injured. There is something about your body that's different than others."

"I have no idea what you mean by that." Eil looked to the side, giving a grumble as he did, "What the hell is even your end game."

"That could vary. We could remain unlikely allies due to this business with the Cards… or it could possibly end with you violently having your way with me."

"What the hell kind of person do you take me for?! I'm not that kind of carnivore!"

"Oh so you don't deny you _are_ one though?"

"I never said that."

"In a way you kind of did." Caren's remark also came with her tightening a bit of her shroud between her hands, "Of course odds are I would just tie you up with the shroud again if that did come to pass."

"Do you just… _thrive_ on tormenting others?" Eil felt an eye twitching.

"Mostly just you. You're surprisingly easy to tease despite your seeming disposition."

"Y'know… now I kinda feel like Berserker is gonna be the _least_ of my problems." Eil hung his head as a hoarse sigh left his throat while he muttered something incoherent. _"Seriously, why me? Why am I the schmuck getting involved in messes like this? And why are most of the women around me so weird?!"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Eil it's called the Tohno Gland. It grants "Harem Protagonist: A++" as a Skill but comes with the little catch most of the women are just bizarre in some manner. I think you and Shiki would get along swimmingly, HAH. Or maybe not… whatever. And so we draw closer and closer to the battle with Berserker. And BOY do I have plans in store. So for now, see ya next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 12: Day to Relax**

"Oi, Tohsaka! I know we're taking the next couple of days off before going for the last Card, but why you sleepin' in?!"

Eil threw the door for the room Rin was occupying open, leaning in to view the bed… but not finding a sigh of his senior student on the bed. Though there was a heap on the floor in the form of the comforter. An oddly cute looking one. He also noticed the room smelled rather strongly of roses. And the magus equipment on the desk… some of it he recognized. Seems like Rin _had_ pilfered the shed out in the back for some of the things in it.

And then the heap moved along with a groggy mumble. Slowly but surely, the heap moved up and Rin sat up, the comforter slipping off. Bits of her hair were up and about thanks to bed head.

"Hmmm? Eil… what time is it?" Rin muttered, rubbing her eyes and giving a yawn, "Why are you even up?"

"Because it's noon." Eil muttered, leaning against the door frame, Rin's eyes going wide. "Yeah. I thought it'd be a good idea if we at least scouted out the forest where the Card is a bit before tomorrow. Y'know, find the location ahead of time so we can get there faster."

"Ehhh? We already got the location centered on our map." Rin muttered, her head flopping onto the bed, "I get I slept in but c'mon… I was up late preparing gems for our last fight. I don't have a lot left y'know?"

"Yeah but aren't the Tohsaka's super rich?"

"It's not like I can just tell my parents I'm back in town because I messed up at the Clocktower, and that I need some extra gems so I don't expelled for failing my assignment!"

"I mean we so far have gone four for four without too much trouble. Though now we have to deal with Berserker… and I can bet it's gonna troublesome."

"Uggghhh, don't remind me of that." Rin shoved her face into the mattress, Eil shaking his head at the girl. "We're not scouting the place out, we don't need to. Just relax or something…"

"That is very strange to hear coming you Tohsaka." Eil said, Rin just shoving her face back into the pillow. "Whatever."

Eil left into the room and headed out to the shed in the back of the plot. The door downright creaked open as he pulled it open, and he coughed a bit as dust came out. The shed itself clearly hadn't been used in ages, and aside from the signs of what Rin had taken out of the place, most of what was in it was covered in a thick layer of dust.

"I think dad said they hadn't used this place in at least a decade…" Eil used his foot to move aside some items, revealing a magic circle carved into the concrete floor. He knelt down and ran his hand across it, feeling the shallow crevices across his palm and fingers. "A summoning circle? Not quite the place you'd think of summoning a Servant now is it?"

With that thought in mind, Eil reached into his pocket and produced the Class Cards he had with him, those being Saber, Archer, Assassin, and Caster. Miyu still had the Lancer and Rider Cards with her. Eil laid the four Cards out, each one at a main point of the circle on the floor, and he raised his hand, surges of light beginning to move across his arm.

"Connect, _Deneb."_ Four balls of light moved from Eil's hand and hovered over each of the Cards, and he shut his eyes as a breath left his throat. "King Arthur, a nameless hero, Medea, and Hassan-i-Sabbah… as for the other two, Cu Chullain and Medusa… those are the six we know, so just who could Berserker be? It feels like these Servants are linked somehow… like there's some kind of memory related to all of them together."

Eil focused as he let out another breath, causing the balls of light above the Cards to grow bright… and then images began to form in his mind. They were hard to fully make out, but he could gather they were scenes of battle… oddly enough though, there was overlap between the flashes he could get from the "Nameless" Archer and the other three. Did it mean that whoever had used the Card faced the other users, by themselves? Again, Eil had a hard time making sense of the flashes he was seeing. It was too brief, and there was too little for him to properly go on besides that overlap he saw.

"That… definitely wasn't some kind of normal Grail War… whatever the hell it was." Eil sighed as he cut off the magic with a thought, collecting the Cards and fanning them out in his hand. "Is that why we can't analyze these things? Because they're from a system we don't understand ourselves? Maybe a different reality?"

A grumbling sigh left Eil's throat as that thought crossed his mind. It just complicated things more, and frankly speaking, he didn't want to even so much as bother with thoughts like that. The Cards alone were troublesome enough on their own. He didn't need to complicate the matter by suddenly injecting the idea they're potentially from some other reality using a system unique to it. He was well aware of things like that, taking into account who his mentor was.

But even _for_ a mage, things being that complicated was just troublesome. He'd rather just deal with the current situation at hand and then figure things out later, once this was wrapped up and finished. No point in overthinking things right now.

"I'm gonna go for a walk."

It was barely even a second after Eil stepped off of the grounds of the compound when a limo came screeching to a halt in front of him. The young man barely had enough time to process the situation before the door before him flew open and he was yanked into the vehicle, crashing onto the floor.

"What the hell?!"

"Oh ho ho ho ho! Good day to you, Zvezda!"

"Oh god dammit…"

Eil sat up and looked over, a glare coming to his face as he saw Lluvia laughing from her seat in the space.

"What the hell do you want Edelfelt? It's our day off!" Eil then immediately realized him saying that was somewhat hypocritical since earlier he was ready to head off and investigate the last remaining Card's location. "But, seriously."

"What, I can't take the day to request a meeting with one of my companions?" Lluvia flipped her hair as she said so, Eil however giving her a flat stare. "What?"

"So you tore up to my place and swiped me off the street… why didn't you just call me on my phone?! I know you have one of your own!" Eil bit, whipping out his phone and pointing to it… and then Lluvia looked to the side. "You still don't know how to use it… don't you?"

"W-what could you possibly be talking about? Of course I know how to use that silly thing. I just found it more appropriate too…"

"Chiiiii…."

"Will you please stop staring at me like you're accusing me of a crime?!"

Eil smirked as Lluvia's attempt at covering for herself turned into embarrassment, and he took his own seat as the limo continued on.

"So? What is it you want to discuss?" Eil asked, Lluvia clearing her throat.

"I think it would be appropriate if we review the current state of affairs." Lluvia said, "Considering we are nearly done with our assignment, an overlook feels prompt, don't you think? Now while I could have asked Tohsaka to attend, why bring her along though?"

"Yeah because you two would probably just fight in the middle of it." Eil muttered, giving a sigh. "And lemme guess, this is gonna have to wait till we're at your place, won't it?"

"Obviously."

"Greeaattt…"

* * *

Now at a central room in the mansion, Eil and Lluvia were seated across from each other at the table in the long room, and hovering near Eil, Sapphire had joined the two for this small meeting between the magi as well.

"So, where to start…" Lluvia hummed, Eil scoffing.

"That's easy… the fact that you and Rin got so rowdy on day one that Ruby and Sapphire ditched the both of you." Eil said, pointing his thumb at the present stick.

"Quite true. If not for their behavior, Nee-san and I would have kept our contracts with the both of you intact." Sapphire stated, Lluvia biting down on a handkerchief. "But… had it not been for that, than odds are Miyu-sama and Illya-sama never would have met all of you… however, one could say perhaps that could itself have been for the better rather than what it was."

"Moving on… the first Card we retrieved was Rider." Lluvia set the mentioned Card onto the table, placing it besides the Lancer and Archer Cards. "Or more accurately, Miyu retrieved it. Really, Illyasviel started off rather poorly despite her potential."

"Hey we would've gotten the damn thing ourselves… if I'd gotten a direct hit with Durandal anyway." Eil grumbled, then tossing the Caster Card into the group, "And then Caster… our first loss because she manifested well before we showed up in the distortion."

"And where Illyasviel and Miyu had to find some way to fly in… ways." Lluvia said, biting her thumb. "It still feels like a mild insult how easily Illyasviel flew. She had such a convenient image for it too! How lucky could that girl be?"

"Yeah well I'm starting to have some thoughts about _why_ she's so strong despite her inexperience." Eil said, then placing the Saber Card onto the table. "And then Saber… this one was all kinds of troublesome."

"To think, even _after_ Tohsaka and I once again used Ruby and Sapphire, even with a Zvezda on our side, it still wasn't enough to fully defeat that Servant!" Lluvia's words got Eil and Sapphire, who still hadn't fully informed Rin and Lluvia of what had actually _happened_ against Saber. Though whether they would actually have to was another thing. "Still… I feel like something more happened there."

"Ehehehehe… it's nothing… and then lastly…" Eil pulled out the Assassin Card, staring at it rather intensely for a moment. "Assassin… ugh, I honestly kind of wish I could just forget this one. That initial trick though… using the form of another Servant as a decoy? Seriously, that was several kinds of twisted."

"Agreed. I never anticipated something that… brutal would ever happen during this assignment." Lluvia took a sip of tea, then looking at Sapphire. "Well Sapphire? What do you have to say?"

"So far… I have to say your performance has been rather exceptional." The stick replied. "Aside from personal opinions on the matter, Rin-sama and Lluvia-sama have at least made sure we have reliable Masters. While we couldn't prepare for the nature of Assassin though… I do rather regret what happened to Illya-san. She wasn't as prepared for something like that was the rest of us were. Also… perhaps her experiences had mounted together, and then, seeing Master be injured triggered something in her. I still can't find an explanation behind that blast of mana that came from here."

"That is a lingering mystery." Lluvia said. "I mean… I doubt it's coincidence her name is Einzbern right? But if she really is from that family, it begs the question of why she's so ill informed of the world of magi."

"Yeah well… I've got something of an answer to that." Eil said, giving Lluvia a solid stare, "First off, this doesn't leave the room, got it? So, Miyu, if you're done listening in, you can come in now."

Lluvia looked surprised as the door opened to reveal that Miyu was standing at the entrance.

"Miyu? How long have you been there?" Lluvia asked.

"Since the start." Miyu said, shutting the door. "I wanted to hear what would be said.. and this… it feels like this is something I should hear."

"Understandable." Eil said. Then his face got serious. "Again, this does not leave the room. Am I clear?" he got nods in response. "Okay… the truth of the matter is… disturbingly simple but… Illya was born as a potential vessel for the Holy Grail."

"What?!" Lluvia gasped at the statement, and Miyu's eyes went wide. Eil simply nodded.

"Yeah I was surprised to. But… the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Completely untrained, but she masters mage craft with complete ease, and she has such a deep well of mana at her disposal. The more I put it to thought, the more it just felt like the only natural conclusion. As… unpleasant as that thought could be." Eil bit the nail of his thumb a bit, a sigh passing along. "And I also learned why the Einzberns went dark… it was also a thing that just… clicked from information I learned. See… Illyasviel's father is Kiritsugu Emiya… the Magus Killer himself."

"That man?! How is that… no way…" Lluvia only looked even more shocked at what she heard… and Miy''s eyes were so wide one could worry they'd suddenly pop out of her skull from how she looked. "The daughter of the Magus Killer and an Einzbern? I… I never could have expected that. And Illyasviel is honestly completely unaware of the truth behind who she is?"

"Well, Illya is inquisitive… she might start asking questions from her parents sooner or later. But for now, no, Illya doesn't know." Eil responded, twisting a bit of his hair. "And as for whether or not she'll be with us for the Berserker fight… I let Illya think about it. If she chooses not to, then I want to respect her choice in the matter. She's not a trained magus like us… honestly, it's kind of surprising she stuck with us for so long. After that though… I wouldn't blame her a single bit if she bowed out of this one."

"Well, I can't argue there. Even the stubborn Ruby would likely accept that." Lluvia said, then looking at Miyu. "Miyu? Are you alright? You're so pale, and you look as if you've seen a ghost!"

"I… I'm fine. I… I'm going to step out for a moment." Miyu turned and hurriedly left the room, Eil giving a sigh.

"Why would Miyu react like that?" Lluvia murmured, Eil shrugging, but standing up all the same.

"I dunno, but I can try to figure that out."

"Right."

Eil nodded as Lluvia hummed, clearly moving into deeper thought. When Eil left the room, he didn't have to look very far to find Miyu. She was clearly in view, sitting at the stair well down the right of the hallway. As Eil slowly approached, he could see how the girl was shaking, even when she clenched her hands in an attempt to still herself.

"You know, I know what I said was shocking and all… but with the way you reacted, I'm starting to think that means you know more than you've been letting on." Eil spoke up, getting Miyu's attention, the normally stoic girl looking up at him, and then Sapphire drifted out.

"Miyu-sama, even if this may be prying into things… are you really alright?" Sapphire asked, Miyu just staring at her bunched hands. "Miyu-sama, you won't get anywhere by remaining silent… nobody can help you if you say nothing to them."

"So… maybe rather than sitting around… maybe you can actually talk to me." Eil said, Miyu looking the other way. "Alright then…"

 _FLICK!_

"Ow!" Miyu grabbed her forehead as Eil leaned down and flicked her, "What was that for?"

"I'm not gonna take no for an answer… so start talkin', or I keep flickin'." Eil said, holding his hand at the ready for strike another one, and _this time_ the dim glow of an active magic circuit could be seen. "And each one'll be stronger than the least."

"That's a form of physical torture." Miyu muttered, Eil giving her a raised brow. "But… you're not incorrect. I… I do know more about the Cards. But… promise me… promise me you won't tell the others about this."

"It's that important huh?" Eil asked, Miyu nodding. "Hagh, fine. Also… even if this story of yours is crazy, odds are I may believe you… I've seen a lot of weird things since I began learning under Zelretch."

"Right." Miyu nodded, then letting out a breath. "The truth is… the Cards aren't from this world. The reason that they behave the way they do, why the effect this world… they were created by a system alien to this reality."

"That was… admittedly a theory I was starting to have."

"Operation of Alternate Worlds." Sapphire said, the teens looking at her. "If the Cards are from an alternate system, for as much as it complicates the matter, it answers a lot. So then… Miyu-sama, I take this too mean you're from this other world, aren't you?"

"Yes." Miyu said. "I arrived in this world five years ago… around the same time the Cards first came to the notice of the Mage's Association. I don't know many of the finer details but… as you could suspect, those Cards were used in a Holy Grail War. But, not one you would be familiar with."

"A Grail War where rather than using Servants to fight… those who would ordinarily be Masters used the Cards to channel the powers of those Servants instead." Eil muttered, his memory flashing back to Illya's battle with Saber. "So then… who won? And I'm guessing the winner sent you here. Without the Second Magic moving to another world is next to impossible, at least by any known modern methods… so of course it was the power of a Grail that did it."

"Yes. And the one who was victorious in that Grail War… was my brother." Miyu's hands tightened up, and she bit her lower lip a bit. "Until now, I didn't know the Cards had arrived with me. Not until Lluvia-nee-san arrived here on her assignment. But when I learned that they had crossed over with me, I felt like I had to do something. Sapphire, it's why I accepted your offer for a contract with you. I… in a way, I feel responsible for why this is happening."

 _FLICK!_

"Ow!"

"Quit talking like you've gotta do this on your own." Eil pulled his hand back after delivering a second flick to Miyu's forehead, this time leaving a notable red mark where he'd done so. "We're already down to the last bloody Card, now isn't the time for you to be going "this is just something I have to do" on us. We're in this all the way whether you're okay with that or not. And don't think for a damn second I'd let any of you guys try to fight a _Berserker_ on your own. We don't know which Spirit he is, but a Berserker is still dangerous… and depending on _who_ it'd be, the possibility for something even more dangerous than Saber is pretty up there."

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing. Last Card. We're in the deep end and there's no going back. And no trying to play the hero got it?" Eil gave a chuckle as he folded his arms. "Because you've got friends going into this mess with you. So, why do it alone when we're so close to finishing this mess up?"

"Friends, right?" Miyu's hands bunched up again, a mutter coming from her. "I… I did like Illya saying she'd be my friends… you too Eil but… nobody should get hurt because of this and… after what happened against Assassin…"

 _FLICK!_

"Stop flicking me that hurts!" Miyu snapped, Eil laughing at the sudden outburst the girl gave, far from her usual deadpan manner of speaking.

"Ahahahaa! I knew you could actually talk like a normal person!" Eil said, then patting Miyu on the head, earning a surprised look from the girl. "And nice to know you do care. So… you trust me in saying I've got your back during our last fight, yeah?"

"I won't be able to make you back out no matter what, won't I?" Miyu murmured, Eil shaking his head. And that response got a small smile to show on the girl's face. "Of course not… you two are rather alike in that regard."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Miyu said, standing up and patting her skirt off. "Though now… I kind of feel like I owe you an apology for what I said. It's just… I didn't think about it. I just want these Cards to be gathered and taken away. I want to move on from that past I have. Though… Lluvia-nee-san is right it seems… sometimes you do have to slow down and think about things."

"Yeah because rushing headlong is a good way to get yourself killed." Eil remarked, putting his arms behind his head. "Now… the last thing to worry about is Illya's choice in the matter."

"If she does go with us then… I really do hope we can be friends after this, no matter the result." Miyu said, Eil glancing back at her as he had turned to head out, a grin of his own coming to his face.

"Ah I wouldn't worry about that one bit. Illya's a nice girl." Eil said, then pumping a fist. "And we're definitely gonna win this one too!"

"Yes! So that… so that it can finally end."

* * *

"Well… I did say I wanted to go for a walk today."

Eil sighed to himself as he headed for the gates of the mansion grounds. There wasn't much he could think to mull on as he pushed open the fate… except maybe the fancy white car now parked outside of Illya's house.

"What the… wait… does that mean her parents are home now?" As the thought came to mind, there was also a sudden urge to scram and just get away before anyone came out of the house. It was more some kind of instinct… a sudden impulsive fear since he knew who Illya's father was… and considering his reputation in the world of magi, he had plenty reason to feel even just the slightest jab at the mere _idea_ he was even within a mile of that man.

He flinched when he saw the door start to open, reaction making him warier than he usually tended to be. But paranoia turned to sudden relief when Illya barreled out of the doorway. And on seeing Eil, the white haired girl tried to slow her rush down… only to accidentally run headlong into the side of the car that was facing her… and promptly bounce back onto the ground.

"Well… least she has padding… oh god what am I saying?" Eil was about ready to kick himself for the comment. Instead heading over and checking on Illya, who was holding the area near her hips as she whined a bit. "Uhm… you okay Illya?"

"Yeah I'm fine… my butt just hurts now." Illya accepted the helping hand up Eil gave, wincing a bit as she kept one hand at her rear, "Yeah that's gonna be sore later…"

"So… why the rush? And… I assume from the car our folks are here." Eil could swear he felt eyes on him from somewhere else, but chose to shove it down. Illya did nod to it however.

"Yeah. They were in Egypt until now… as usual they also brought back a whole bunch of weird souvenirs." Illya said, then slapping her cheeks, "Not what I'm here to say though!"

"Wait where were you planning to rush off to anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh I was uh… going to head to your place… I mean, I'm a good runner but, y'know?"

" _I live in an entirely different part of town though."_ Eil thought, his look suddenly flat, then he shook his head. "And… for what reason would you be stopping by my place now?"

"Right well… I made my decision." Illya said, Eil perking up at that. "See I… I thought about things as they are and, I also had… something of a talk with my mom earlier. And what I came to think I… I want to see this through! It may be scary but still… you're my friends, and you shouldn't have to finish this yourselves. I have to see this through. Even if it can be scary, and even if I could get hurt. I don't care that I was dragged into this mess. I want to help you finish this. I mean… what kind of magical girl would I be if I backed out before the final boss?"

"Pfff… hehehehe!" Eil started chuckling before it went to full out laughter, and Illya made a noise as her face got red.

"Why are you laughing?! I've been thinking about this ever since the other day!"

"I-I'm sorry it's just… that's definitely the kind of thing you'd say about this situation!" Eil responded, Illya's blush getting stronger. "Still… I'm glad to hear that. We're gonna need all the help we can get. So having Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya back on board is definitely the best addition we can get."

"It's really embarrassing to hear somebody else say that." Illya muttered, and when Eil began laughing again, Illya couldn't help but join him in it. Once the two had stopped, Illya let out one more small laugh. "But still, I'm fully serious about this. Because… you and Miyu are very important friends and… well…"

"Huh?"

"No it's… I'll wait until afterwards because… we need to be at our best for it, right?" Illya pumped both her arms as she said so, Eil nodding… even if he caught she had wanted to say more.

And speaking of things, it still felt like someone was watching him. When he glanced over to where the felt it, his eyes went to pinpricks as the door shut.

" _Someone was watching?!"_ Eil thought, but his shocked reaction changed when he saw Illya's expression grow more stoic.

"I was being stupid before. I just went with the flow and fought without any kind of resolve, when you and Miyu were taking it seriously the entire time. I went along with it, thinking it wasn't my problem, that it couldn't actually be that real… that maybe I'd suddenly wake up and realize this was all some long dream. But then… when I realized it was real, that I could get hurt… I got scared and ran away. I didn't like it at all… I didn't like seeing someone I thought was so strong be hurt like a normal person. I know it sounds stupid and just… weird of me, but that was what I thought."

"Ah geez… didn't we have this talk already?" Eil put a hand behind his head, and when Illya looked at him in surprise, he grabbed her arm and pulled the girl into a hug, Illya yelping. "I told you before it's fine. You already made your choice, so stop crying about it already. As far as I'm concerned, you've done what you need to. We talked about this already so let's leave it where we did. All that matters to me is that you chose to come back and fight with us again. And Miyu's got the same thought… she was taking this seriously for her own reasons, one's she felt made this her responsibility to deal with. I don't like seeing you two go and beat yourselves up. Like you said, we're at the final boss… so let's buck it up and win. We can cry and dump all our baggage on each other when it's over, alright?"

"Right." Illya said… then the two realized the fact they were pressing into one another, and both immediately shot back a bit with yelps. The emotional moment had passed, and in its place came teenaged awkwardness.

" _Sooooffft! She's way too freaking soft! And what the heck was I smelling?! That was her hair right? She smells really good! AHHHH! Stop stop stoooop! Now isn't the time to be thinking about this!"_ Eil put his hands to his head as he started having a small freak out… not that Illya was faring much better.

" _I felt it! He has muscles despite looking so thin! I knew it I knew it! But I didn't think he could be that gentle too! Ahhh, I don't know what kind of perceptions to have right now! This is supposed to be serious but now I'm thinking like this!"_ Illya held the sides of her face as a rather furious blush rose up… then she looked over at the now somewhat-open again door, _"Who's watching?! Is it mom! Please don't let it be mom!"_

"So uh… we're gonna be heading out tomorrow so… well, we gotta head into those woods on the outskirts of town so, it'll be something of a walk." Eil cleared his throat as he turned back around, letting out a breath. "Berserker is gonna be a tough foe without a doubt… so make sure you're ready for it."

"Of course I will be! There's nothing to worry about, this magical girl is here to see the finale!" Illya said, Eil chuckling, holding out a fist, Illya bumping hers to it with a giggle.

"Good to have ya' back in order Illya."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And we are now THAT much closer to the end of this cour! Man the Berserker fight is gonna be something else thanks to the new set up for it. Hehehe, ah man is it gonna be fun! Aight then, see ya next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

Fate/Asterism Liner

 **Chapter 13: Shine Bright like the Stars**

"And this is why land renovation is a thing… dammit those woods were thick."

Eil rolled an arm as the group _finally_ broke free of the dense trees of the forest outside Fuyuki, coming into a more open clearing with their destination in sight. After having been driven to the edge of the woods, the five teenagers had had to hoof it all the way through, and the entire process at best took several hours… and that wasn't even mentioning the barrier that had to be worked through along the way.

"That was… four hours… couldn't we have just gove OVER the trees?" Illya muttered, leaning on a tree, Miyu shaking her head in response.

"Even if it was a long walk, we need to conserve our mana for the battle. Berserker will be a powerful foe, so we can't waste a single moment." Miyu said, patting her pocket. "Hopefully, we can just use Lancer and finish this quickly."

"Yeah, hopefully. But we're talking about a Berserker. Regardless of who it is, it'll be hard to put down, that's just a fact." Eil popped his knuckles with that remark. "So we gotta be ready for a fierce fight."

"Well, let's survey this place for… geez, who'd have thought a castle would be out here huh?" Rin's remark brought all eyes forward, bringing to attention the building that could really only be called a castle. It was massive enough to tower over the trees, but it was also clear it had been untouched in years, with ivy growth lining the walls of the exterior… yet there was an odd aura that made the castle feel untouched as well.

"What a grand palace, a shame it's been left alone like this. I wonder, who would have such a place this far out in the woods?" Lluvia said, and as the group proceeded forward, Eil and Miyu hung back a bit.

"So… about what we talked about." Eil said, Miyu glancing at him, "I can already guess the answer but… do you think we should at least tell Illya?"

"No, not yet." Miyu said. "Right now, we just need to collect Berserker. I don't want to weigh Illya down with that knowledge… besides, I doubt it will matter much."

"Yeah but, still…"

"I told you not to tell anybody." Miyu said, stopping and then holding out a pinky. "So we'll make it extra clear… a pinky promise."

"Isn't that kinda childish?"

Miyu then took on a pouty expression, Eil giving a chuckle as he sighed.

"Alright alright. Pinky promise it is. I won't tell anyone a thing until you decide on it." Eil lifted his hand and locked his pinky with Miyu's, _"Even though I still think this is stupidly childish for us to do…"_

"What are they doing?" Illya murmured, looking forward from having glanced back, stopping at the first step of the stairs, a weird feeling suddenly coming to her. "Huh?"

"Illya-san, is something wrong?" Ruby flitted out, Illya looking at the doors of the castle.

"I don't know but… something feels weird about this place." Illya said, shaking her head.

"Alright so… the Card is nearby, but it's not here directly." Eil said, trotting up the steps and stopping at the door. "Rin, Lluvia, do you know where it is in here?"

"Somewhere in the center of the area… maybe there's a courtyard somewhere in the building?" Rin suggested, Lluvia nodding.

"This seems like it was the home of a magus clan. This open area is merely an entryway no doubt." Lluvia said, Eil nodding.

"Right… so what we're looking for is likely some kind of large, open garden. Let's go… ready?" Eil got nods from the four girls as he placed his hand on the doors. With a loud creek of old hinges finally moving again after ages of stillness, the massive doors opened to the main hall.

The feeling within the place was just like the outside. An odd sensation, as if the room was untouched, one could even say frozen in time. With the time that had come through, one could have expected that the lavish hall would be both decrepit and dust covered… and yet, it looked well kept almost, like it had been waiting for visitors.

While Eil, Miyu, Rin, and Lluvia merely proceeded along the halls as normal, not paying much mind to the feeling of the location, Illya felt far, far different about it. It felt like she somehow _knew_ this place. Something about the halls, the very walls themselves lent this bizarre feeling of familiarity to her.

" _It's all kind of creepy…"_ Illya scanned around the place while the others pressed on ahead, and she came to a stop at one of the windows within, the view of it going outwards, into a sprawling and open courtyard situated in the very center. "Hey, everyone, is this what we're looking for?"

"Hm?" Eil was the first to stop, taking a couple steps back to the window near him, looking out into the courtyard, Rin and Lluvia shoving their faces past his. "That should be it, right? Sapphire, Ruby? Can you two confirm it?"

"That's definitely it." Sapphire said, floating into view. "The Card's distortion is centered right there."

"Hmm, I wonder how big the Mirror World will be this time." Ruby said, one of her feathers rubbing her star as if she was rubbing a chin. "Well let's find out! There should be a door nearby!"

"Considering the layout of the castle, and the courtyard… we shouldn't be too far from one." Miyu said, her eyes scanning across what she could see, noting the doors visible at different ends of the area. "Taking into account the door across from us, then a door outside is only a short ways down."

"Then let's not waste time." Eil took the lead in the short way down, and exactly as Miyu guessed, they found a door not far from where they had been. Like with the entrance, the hinges of the doors creaked open as Eil and Rin shouldered them off, the brisk afternoon air rushing in to meet the five as they entered the courtyard. In all it's simplicity, the most notable sight were the myriad of pure white flowers that marked the four patches of the yard, and in the very center a wide circular, stone ground.

"This should be as good a place as any to set up." Lluvia looked to Illya and Miyu, the two girls nodding, grabbing their respective sticks and transforming. Once Illya and Miyu were in their Trance states, the three magi stood around them as the sticks began the incantation for the jump.

"Alright… final battle, here we go." Eil let out a breath as he adjusted a fingerless glove he'd slipped onto his right hand earlier. "Let's go!"

With a flash, again, and hopefully for the last time, the group was in the Mirror World again. But now, the space was much, _much_ smaller, the "ceiling" of the dimension visible just above the highest spire of the castle.

"Well this is cramped." Rin said, Eil taking notice of how the "wall" barely even went past the outer edge of the castle.

"This proves the distortions are getting smaller." Lluvia said, stopping when Eil waved her down.

"No time to talk… our Berserker's already here." Eil's words were immediately heralded by a roar sounding from a short ways off, the group turning to the source to see a massive figure on top of the castle, a loud roar coming from the figure, a mountain of muscle that could only be called a "beast" of a human figure.

"What the hell?!" Illya yelped, everyone moving aside when Berserker jumped from the roof at them, Illya and Miyu getting into the air. "What should we do? Eil?"

"Give me a second I'm getting a read! Hold him off!" Eil said, a flicker of black mist shooting from his hand and producing the copied black Excalibur again.

With that prompt, Illya and Miyu launched blasts at Berserker, though all it seemed to do with draw the dark Servant's attention to the magical girls. The beast leapt at them, missing by a mile as they shot away, crashing instead right through the roof as his fist crashed through it. Miyu and Illya shot back to the ground as Berserker rose back up.

"Ah man…" Eil muttered, a twitch in his eye as he traced Berserker back down to the ground. "We bloody lucked out."

"What? Who is he?" Rin said, Eil giving a dry chuckle that did nothing to reassure anyone else.

"Heracles… we're fighting goddamn Heracles!" Eil said, eyes going wide all around. It was a legend you'd have to be a complete _idiot_ not to know even to _some_ degree. Nothing else but the name had to be said by Eil for it to settle in exactly what they were now up against. "So my first bit of advice… don't get fucking hit!"

"He's right, we won't be able to stop attacks from someone that strong from hurting you!" Ruby said.

"And there's no sign a mana blast had any effect. It's like we didn't even reach his body!" Sapphire spoke as Berserker attacked again, Miyu looking back at the beast as she descended, launching another blast at him.

"That's not magic resistance… it's something stronger." Miyu noted, "And since he's Heracles… it means he's counted as a Divine Being!"

"What does that mean?!" Illya yelled as she darted away from the massive fist of Berserker. "I know Heracles is a demi-god, but what does that mean in this situation?"

"Divine Beings are remnants of the Age of Gods… to be utterly short though, it means modern magecraft is close to ineffective against him!" Eil shouted, then looking to Rin and Lluvia, "Both of you, do you think a 10-line would work? Something like the Gleipnir spell!"

"What about you?! You're the one with the fancy star magic!" Rin said, she and Lluvia throwing out their own gem attacks at Berserker.

"Let's find out!" Eil lifted his left hand, light started to flow across the limb. "Connect, _Ophiucus_!"

The arranged orbs of light then burst outwards after the lines connected, phantasmal serpents rushing through the air at Berserker. The beast tried to bat them away, but one got through the massive swings, it's fangs clamping down, earning a roar from the beast as it's other arm grabbed the phantasm. While crushing it was easy enough, a smirk came to Eil's face as he saw a violet color ooze from the punctures on Berserker's arm.

"Hell yes! It actually worked!" Eil said, "Hercules' death at the end of his legend came from poison. I doubt that much will kill him outright, but it should slow him down a bit!"

"What else then?" Lluvia said.

"My best suggestion? We use every Card we've got!" Eil said.

"WHAT?!"

"Look I know we haven't tested some of them but like we have a choice! Heracles is most well known for his twelve labors, right? Taking a wild guess says that…" he had to shoot back again to avoid an incoming fist, Berserker crashing right into the wall as he sailed past Eil. "… the odds are he won't be that easy to kill!"

"And what do you mean by that?" Illya said, blasting Berserker again, "Man, it really isn't working!"

"Lancer, Include!" Miyu shouted, twirling the red spear as it formed in her right hand. The girl shot past Berserker's arm as it came for her, launching the spear forward and right through the beast's heart, the blade bursting out from the other end of Berserker's torso, a spray of blood following the wound, Berserker then collapsing to a knee as his body shuddered and went still.

"Did that do it?" Illya said, Eil shaking his head, his sword at the ready.

"Don't count on it… with a Greek Hero like Heracles, I doubt we'll have it _that_ easy. Miyu, get back!" Eil's shouted was answered with a nod by Miyu. The girl pulled Gae Bolg from Berserker's body and leapt back. "Let's see if I'm right about this."

With another roar, Berserker's body darkened and gained red markings. His torso went rigid, and steam billowed from the wound on his chest as the flesh began closing up quickly.

"What in the hell is with that?!" Rin shouted, Eil clicking his tongue.

"Thought so. Of bloody course Heracles has a Noble Phantasm that allows for resurrection." Eil's statement got the four girls to look at him with wide eyes of shock. "If I was gonna hazard a guess, it's one life for every labor he completed. And I doubt it'll be so easy as just being able to spam the same killing blow."

"We have to kill him twelve different times?!" Illya yelped.

"Or hit him with something hard enough to cut through multiple lives at once… but same concept." Eil said, already stepping back, "So now I suggest we get inside the damn castle!"

"That sounds like a bad idea!" Rin shouted.

"Trust me, it is! But it's the best we've got! He may be big and fast, so we use that against him!" Eil said, jumping back to the nearest door, gripping his sword in both hands, causing black mist to burst across the blade. "You all head in, I'll keep him from following us!"

"Eil are you sure?" Illya said, Eil nodding to her as she landed near him.

"Believe me, I'll catch up no problem. Find a place to hide. Rin, Lluvia, leave a trail on the wall! I'll get rid of it when I follow after! Miyu, Illya, keep watch!" Eil said, the other four rushing in through the door, and when Berserker leapt at them, Eil released a swathe of black mist at the Berserker to push him back. "Don't think so!"

Berserker roared again and charged, a snap from Eil's left hand near his legs casting Pegasus on them, allowing him to shoot into the air and get above his target, gripping Excalibur with both hands, another blast coming from the sword as it was swung, Berserker roaring as he was impacted. "One more! Connect, _Andromeda!"_

With a snap of his left hand fingers, the orbs that flew around Berserker burst into lines of chains that bound the beast, Eil dropping to the ground and running through the door as Berserker fought against the chains, diving around the first corner he reached as Berserker's roar shot through the air. Eil pressed as flat against the wall as he could manage, taking the risk of peering out, and he could see Berserker fighting against the chains from the window, but the mana constructed bindings were already started to crack.

"Should've guessed… considering this is Heracles, he's gotta have a pretty good Divinity rank. I'd need something even better than Andromeda to bind him for more than a minute." Eil clicked his tongue as he ran it through his head, then he started looking around. When his eyes fell on a small magic circle slapped onto the wall, he smirked. "And there's my trail!"

Shooting up and slapping his hand onto the circle to erase it, Eil shot down the hall, keeping his eyes on the wall for any more marks as he ran, slapping away each one he saw as he rounded corners and was even led up to the next floor.

"Talk about winding! You girls are sure making me work to find ya!" Eil chuckled as he continued his run while following the marks, the last one he found being at a pair of large doors, though he took a moment to look around the hall. "These halls are pretty wide all things considered, tall too… but, Berserker is massive… heh, even with space like this I doubt he'll have the room to fling himself around like he was out in the courtyard."

Eil shouldered the door open as he heard Berserker roaring again, a surprised look coming to his face to see that it was a dining room of all places.

"Jeez, there you are!" Rin said, Eil shoving a chair against the closed door, for all the good it'd do really. "Sheesh you took a while."

"Hey I had to buy you four time, don't whine." Eil said, placing a hand on the table, "So, since I'm pretty sure Berserker broke out of my binding spell about now, I'd say we maybe have a few minutes before he gets close to us. Odds are he'll be crashing about the place."

"But it will be cramped for him." Miyu noted, "But, even with the space in these halls it also effects us to. We won't have nearly as much room to dodge as we'd like."

"I know. Which is why we use the Cards." Eil said, tossing the ones he had onto the table, Miyu following suit. "We already used Lancer, though with the second method using Gae Bolg, that gives us a second kill. Archer is useless as an Include, Rider's… I'm not sure about that one. And odds are Including Saber would net us Excalibur… though as for Caster and Assassin…"

"Let's test them now. Illya?" Miyu picked up the Assassin Card, Illya nodding as she picked up Caster.

" _Include!"_

And in quick flashes, both magical girls were holding daggers. The Assassin Card had produced a simple blade, like the one Assassin had used against them, the faint sheen hinting to the coating on it. Illya on the other hand, was holding something more ornate. It's blade was odd, jagged, made of something that _wasn't_ metal.

"A poisoned dagger… useless." Miyu muttered, the Card returning to her hand and Sapphire to staff form.

"Why would a Caster have a dagger? What does this even do?" Illya have the dagger a couple of quick swings, but then also returned it to Card form. "Great, well, there go four of our options."

"Ahh man, where does that put us? We still have to kill that thing eleven more times!" Rin said, her hands at her hair, Lluvia biting her thumb.

"This is a truly terrible situation." Lluvia said, though Illya had a rather thoughtful look on.

"Actually… I think there's another way." Illya said, putting a hand to her head. "I've been able to… remember more of what I did against Saber. The way I used the Card… what if we used them like that? What was it again though?"

"Install." Miyu said, "You used the phrase Install when you did that."

"Did what?" Rin said.

"I don't know how it happened but,, when we fought Saber, somehow I… I used Archer. But it wasn't an Include. It was more like I had _become_ Archer." Illya said, picking up the Card in question.

"We don't fully understand how the Card's work… as they embody the power of Servants they would obviously be capable of a lot. But, using them to almost BECOME a Servant? Why didn't we know this could be done sooner?!" Lluvia shouted.

"It's not like we knew it could even be done!" Ruby said, "But, this Install thing might be our best chance! Use the power of a Servant to beat a Servant! And this time, fully!"

"So… using abilities we barely understand to fight an enemy who's so damn dangerous you need a Servant to take it down head on… that's so un-magus like! I fucking love it!" Eil and Illya promptly slapped a high five as he laughed. On the side, Rin and Lluvia had lucks that showed they were finally recalling the fact Eil was a member of the "heretical" Zvezda family… of course he'd be all for such an out of the box strategy. "Alright then… so what Cards should we use for this? Assassin is a definite out, and we don't have the room for Rider's Noble Phantasm, whatever it is… so we have Lancer, Archer, Saber, and Caster."

"Well, we don't need to Install Lancer to make full use of Gae Bolg, so we'll set it aside." Illya said, and that only left Archer, Saber, and Caster to choose from. "So that leaves these three… Eil, you use Archer, Miyu, Saber, and I'll use Caster."

"Wouldn't it potentially be better for Eil to use Saber? He's far better with a sword than I am." Miyu said.

"The skills of the Servant should transfer over too. Besides… Illya did hand Archer to me as a good luck charm." Eil picked up Archer, then he gave a hum. "And Illya already has a naturally high amount of mana. If she mixes that with Caster's abilities, she'd probably have more destructive power then Caster did when we fought her."

"I see… so using Archer and Saber, you and I will keep Berserker busy." Miyu remarked, Illya putting a hand onto the table.

"While I'll be outside readying an all out attack!" Illya said.

"And while we're keeping him busy, Miyu and I can shave off a few of Berserker's lives in the process."

"Okay so… this plan is good and all, but what about us?" Rin said.

"You can try not to die." Miyu flatly responded, Lluvia grabbing Rin to keep her from lunging at the girl.

"She doesn't mean that, Tohsaka Rin!... but she's right, I won't just sit by while you all do this!" Lluvia said, Rin giving a screech as she struggled.

"There is my Gleipnir idea from before." Eil said, leaning on the hilt of his sword. "We'll need Berserker immobilized for Illya's attack, and a Gleipnir could likely hold Berserker longer than my Andromeda chains did, even if only for a few seconds more."

"So that's the plan. Eil and Miyu will try to shave off as many of Berserker's lives as they can, while we go back out to the courtyard. Using Caster, I'll set up one big attack that should be able to come close to finishing him off! And you two will make sure he stays in place!" Illya said, slapping her hand to the table, "It's a plan!"

"Reckless, but with thought to it! This'll be fun!" Ruby chuckled.

"We can only do the best we can, so let's do this." Sapphire said, everyone nodding.

"So let's go!" Eil threw the door open, the two groups splitting off down the hallway, Eil and Miyu coming to a stop at an intersection. "This should be a good spot. Leaves us some room to get around."

"Berserker will likely come for us as soon as we start." Miyu said, bringing to attention the sound of roars and crashes coming through the building. "Let's hope the others make it outside alright."

"They should be fine. Now, let's go." Eil said, Miyu nodding.

Eil held the Archer Card out in front of him, while Miyu tossed it forward, letting the Saber Card hover a short ways off the ground, and she knelt down, tapping Sapphire's base to it. Beneath the two, a red and blue magic circle formed, the air beginning to move around the two as they began to speak in tandem, the circles splitting and rising around the two as they chanted.

" _I hereby propose… Give they body unto me. Give they sword unto my hands. If in accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, thou dost to this will, this reason, then answer me."_

The floor before the two then split open and exploded upwards, Berserker rising from the hole and landing in front of Eil and Miyu, but they didn't even flinch as the beast turned towards them.

"Miyu-sama, Master, the enemy!" Sapphire shouted, Eil and Miyu continuing their chant, still in tandem, even as Berserker began to charge.

" _I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of restraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales! INSTALL!"_

Two swirls of energy burst up around Eil and Miyu as Berserker struck, his fist meeting the bursts of power. The beast looked outright confused as his fist refused to move forward, coming face to face with the fist having been stopped dead by three swords. In the hands of Eil, black and white short blades, and in the hands of Miyu, a silver blade that hummed with golden light. The two shoved Berserker away with strikes, the air whipping about and revealing their altered states.

For Eil, he was now garbed in red and black, his chest covered in what seemed like some kind of armor plating, while the garb was predominately red cloth, consisting of a jacket that ended at the wrists in white gems of some kind, while below the jacket, a waist cape flowed down and ended just below his left knee, while another bunch of cloth was wrapped around his neck as a scarf.

Miyu too, had new garb on her. An ornate blue dress highlighted by golden threads, the form billowing somewhat from the moving air, while her arms had silver gauntlets on them, and her legs greaves of a the same material. A blue ribbon had tied itself into her hair as well, with it having been redone into a bun held by a braided portion.

"Alright! Phase 1 is a go!" Eil snickered, spinning the white sword into a reversed hold.

"With this power, there's no need to back down!" Miyu said, barring her sword at Berserker.

* * *

Illya turned as she heard Berserker's roar echo from out of the castle, gripping the Caster Card a bit tigher.

"Eil and Miyu must have started fighting about now." Illya said. She turned to see Rin and Lluvia setting gems around the main circle of the courtyard, and then she gave a breath. "Ruby, ready?"

"As ever! But, do you know how to do this?" Ruby said, Illya looking at the Card.

"I just have to think about it… that word, Install… all I have to do is activate it, like I did before!" Illya tossed the Card forward, and it stopped just in front of her straightening out, Illya taking Ruby's top and tapping the card, a magic circle spinning into form. "Install!"

A brief flash accompanied the change as Illya took the Card in. Gone now was the red outfit of her Trance form, and now she was in the same style of robes as Caster, but not in the same tattered state as the Servant had been. The dress was close fitting and a deep violet color, while the cloak that fit over was a shining black, while a portion of her hair had been changed into a braid. Ruby's form had changed into a long, far more ornate staff.

"Ohhh, nice outfit Illya-san! Sexy too!" Ruby said, Illya tugging a bit at the dress.

"It shows my legs quite a bit… ah well. Now, as for using Caster's magic." Illya gave it a bit of thought, and then it was like it was just something she _knew._ "I get it… using the Card like this makes it easy. Hehe, alright then, ready Ruby? This is gonna be big!"

"Heck yeah!"

* * *

"Hey big guy, over here!"

Eil skid to a stop as he skid under Berserker, his swords cutting through the tendons on the beasts legs, Miyu rushing forward as Bersker stumbled in his attempt to turn around, her sword piercing right through Bersker's chest, Miyu driving Bersker into the wall, a crater smashing into it, Miyu pulling back, a spray of blood following it as she shot back.

"That's one more." Miyu said, Eil nodding. "You said odds are he'll become resistant to what killed him right?"

"Yeah. Odds are you won't get another kill by a chest stab." Eil said, spinning the swords in his grasp. "So we have to keep things varied… how many more do you think you can manage before having to use your Noble Phantasm?"

"Maybe one more… I think I could cut off his head." Berserker was already started to glow red again. "So with that, and if I use Excalibur, that'll be two. What about you?"

"Well, this Archer is an odd one… I can create a lot more weapons than I can normally could. So I can probably get a few in myself before we drag him outside."

"Alright then. Let's go."

Eil nodded in response, gripping his weapons tighter as Berserker rose back up, the beast roaring again. The two shot forward again, Miyu ducking the fist that threw forward, her sword flashing up and severing the armor below the shoulder. Eil shot up as Berserker reeled back, driving the twin swords into the monsters neck, driving them out and jumping away.

"Come on, let's get some distance before he heals up!" Eil shouted, Miyu nodding, both dropping through the hole Berserker had made and dashing down the hall, stopping at another intersection. "And here! I've got an idea."

"What kind?" Miyu raised a brow as Eil swapped the swords out for a black bow, a red flash coming with his hand and producing a black sword, which then warped into a more slender shape. "What the…"

" _Projection_ and _Reinforcement._ That's what this Servant specializes in." Eil said, knocking the arrow and drawing the string. _"I get the weird sense I somehow know this Servant… what, did I meet you in some alternate life? Or was I your Master in some other Grail War?"_

"He's coming!" Miyu stood ready again as Berserker crashed down in front of them, Eil giving a smirk.

"And right in place too! **Hrunting!"** The black arrow gained a red glow as Eil pulled back on the bow further, the arrow shooting forward like a bolt of lightning and striking Berserker dead on while the beast charged, the embedded arrow exploding on impact, leaving Berserker a smoldering mess without much left to him. "A Broken Phantasm huh? Heh, useful when you can replicate the things continually!"

"We should try and make his wounds as severe as possible." Miyu said, "The longer he takes to resurrect, the more time we by for Illya, Lluvia-nee-san, and Rin-san to prepare."

"Yeah, and if we trade of who deals the finishing blow, it means he'll be resistant to less at once! We've got nine lives left!"

"Then let's shave down more!"

Steam was practically pouring from Berserker as he finished regenerating, making a mist through the hallway. Eil traded out the bow for another pair of swords different from the black and white ones. He shot forward first, moving past one fist and then another, driving a sword through Bersker's arms each as he did, using his grip on them to leverage himself over. With another burst of red form his right hand, a Gae Bolg of his own came into Eil's grip as he flipped over Berserker, the spear driving through Berserker's head with a swift movement.

"It may be a copy of the same weapon, but I knew a kill in a different spot would work! So that's eight left! Miyu, you're up!" Eil shot back as he let the spear fade from his grip, jumping up through the second hole as Berserker's arm swung at him. "Let's kite him to the entrance! You'll have more room to use Excalibur there!"

"Got it!" Miyu followed suit with ducking Bersker's punches, dancing around the assault the enraged beast launched at her. Miyu took the opening to jump up herself, a flash of the sword bringing it clean past Berserker's neck.

Again, Eil and Miyu shot down the hallway, moving through the bending paths as they ran. But, it wasn't much longer before Berserker's roar sounded again, their pursuer crashing up through the floor. But, as Eil had predicted, the bulk of Bersker's body was slowing him down, even in these wide halls. There simply wasn't room for Berserker to fling himself at the two. And that was exactly what they wanted.

"I'm firing another one!" Eil produced the bow again, and this time, a coiled sword form in his grip, the same process as before turning it into an arrow-like construct. Rainbow light poured over the blade as Eil drew it. Berserker charged forward regardless of having to tear through the hall to do it. While Miyu shot forward with a burst of speed, Eil flipping in the air and launched off of Berserker to continue forward, taking aim as he was upside down mdi flip. **"Caladbolg!"**

Rainbow light gleamed from the arrow was it was fired off, driving right through Berserker's upper body and piercing the walls before exploding in a rain of multicolored light. El landed back on the ground and continued the run. Once they reached the main doors to the entrance, Eil and Miyu bursting through the main double doors, sailing through the air and rolling as they hit the ground at the main entrance. Berserker was quick to follow suit, blowing the doors wide open as he roared after the two. Eil and Miyu dodged back as Berserker descended, a massive crater forming in the ground.

"I'd say being in a space this big is a bad idea, but now we have more room to!" Eil spoke as he and Miyu landed on the walkway above the entrance.

"How many lives does he have left now?"

"Seven. I don't know how many Illya's attack will be able to shave off though. I've got a few more tools of my own to use… I'll use Durandal to get one more. That should give you the time to ready Excalibur."

"And then he'll be down to five lives. And that'll still leave us Gae Bolg's thrown version as well."

"We'll see just how much damage Illya does first!"

The two teens nodded to that plan, both jumping away as Berserker leapt at them. The Servant crashed through, and as they sailed through the air, Eil produced Durandal in his grip, light already coming to the sword even before he landed.

"Over here ugly!" Eil shouted, Berserker leaping right at him again. **"Durandal!"**

The underhanded swing of the blade came with a blast of light following the slash and engulfing Berserker head on, Eil moving to the side as Berserker's body fell to the ground in a heap. And back near the entrance, Miyu had Excalibur gripped in both hands, golden light beginning to drift around her as she readied the blade.

"I'm ready!" Miyu lifted the sword up, the light around the sword bursting out into a complete shape was it was raised. Berserker began to rise up again, a growl coming from the monster of a Servant, his snarl turning to Eil and Miyu yet again. **"Excalibur!"**

The blade came down with the call of its name, the pillar of golden light that formed blasted right through Berserker, and everything else behind it. Eil shaded his eyes until the blast dissipated, and once it had, to say there was much left of Berserker wouldn't be saying much at all. The attack had also blown a path right open leading to the courtyard for them.

"Perfect!" Eil chuckled as he pumped a fist. He looked over when he heard Miyu yelp, the girl stumbling as the Card suddenly ejected form her, and she was left panting as Sapphrie skidded across the floor. "Are you out of mana?"

"I'll… be fine… once I get Sapphire." Miyu panted, Eil nodding.

"I'm here Miyu-sama!" Sapphire drifted back over, Miyu grabbing the stick. "Let's hurry back to the others, before Berserker resurrects again!"

"Which would mean we need to go now!"

Miyu nodded as she began following Eil, getting back into her Trance form as they ran through the gouge that had been made. Once they were out, Eil waved off to Rin and Lluvia, and up in the sky above, multitudes of magic orbs dotted the space in the sky that was there.

"Hell yeah, they made it!" Rin cheered, pumping a fist.

"Preparations have been completed! You two took a while, so I assume Berserker has been felled multiple times?" Lluvia said, Eil nodding as he and Miyu approached.

"He's down to fives lives left. Let's hope Illya's attack shaves off more than one, because I'm running low on mana, and we're getting low on options to kill him." Eil replied, Miyu nodding.

"We haven't used Gae Bolg's second form of attack, so we still have that. Eil, wouldn't your copied Excalibur work as well?" Miyu said, Eil shrugging.

"The problem is, after everything I've done I don't think I have the mana to fire it off, especially not after using Durandal. Frankly I'm surprised I'm still in this form. This Archer's power is really efficient." Eil clenched his hands as he made the note of that. Illya then drifted down from above, giving a sigh.

"Everything's ready everyone! I'll fire as soon as Berserker is trapped." Illya said, and with the sound of a howling roar, it clued everyone in that Berserker was up again. "Which I don't think will take long."

"I'll get him into the center, everyone hang back!" Eil jumped to the center of the courtyard, everyone nodding and moving aside, Illya flying back up to a higher spot, gripping her staff as she waited. Mere seconds later, Berserker crashed onto the ground, just outside of the central circle, and Eil smirked at the Servant as his glare turned to him. "Hey there you persistent bastard! About done yet, or you still want more from us?"

Berserker howled with nothing but rage at Eil's mockery, shooting forward to strike him, flying right into the center as Eil dodged.

"Perfect! Rin, Lluvia, now!" Eil shot away as Berserker's blow sailed by him, Rin and Lluvia tossing a gem each into the center, multiple flashes rising up from their laid down trap.

" _Gleipnir!"_ Both magi shouted the spell, the lights bursting into phantasmal ribbons covered in runes that proceeded to bind Berserker. The Servant's struggle didn't last long before he was forced to the ground, the bindings also producing a field around him, one meant to trap the Servant even more.

"I knew it! Ten-count thaumaturgy would work!" Rin said, Lluvia chuckling.

"Not even the divinity of Heracles can stop that. Though I doubt we have much time. Illyasviel, now!" Lluvia shouted.

"Ready!" Illya spun the staff in her hands, aiming it at Berserker, a magic circle forming above short ways above the bound beast as the orbs all took aim at him. "Fire!"

All at once, the blasts from the orbs concentrated onto the magic circle. The energy being shot at it then gathered, and all of it poured down onto the restrained Berserker all at once in a massive pillar of energy, the Servant roaring as the blast tore through its form. Once the pillar finally exploded outwards, the air became still as smoke rose from the crater that was now present.

"He had five lives left… let's hope that took off what was left." Miyu murmured, Rin brushing off her chin.

"If it didn't, then I'll be surprised." Rin said, looking to Illya. "Nice one Illya!"

"Ehehe, thanks." Illya put a hand behind her head, but levity turned back to wariness as Berserker's roar sounded again. "He already resurrected?!"

Berserker's attention was entirely on Illya as the smoke was blown away. There was hardly any time to react to the attack from Illya. It was one of those moments where time just seemed to slow down completely. As Berserker closed in, Illya started moving out of the way, but there was no way she'd avoid being hit, even if indirectly.

Though then something got in the way… _Eil_ got in the way.

The blow from Berserker directly hit his torso, breaking through the swords he'd brought out to try and block the blow. Berserker kept going forward, blowing right past Illya and smashing Eil into the roof of the castle. When the Servant moved up, Eil was left motionless in the crater that had formed, the Archer Card ejecting and leaving him in his normal state.

"Eil!" Illya shrieked as sense finally came back to her from the sudden shock of what happened. As Berserker raised an arm up to strike again, Illya reverted to her default form. Ruby's staff turned into a blade as she shot forward, and Berserker was then cut down the middle before he could strike. When Illya landed, her eyes flickered golden for a moment as she glared at Berserker. "You get away from him!"

Illya blasted Berserker away and shot off after him again, Miyu joining in with her own attack on the beast. His vision was darkened, not helped at all by the searing pain his body was feeling, but, Eil could see all of it, the flashes from blasts from the two girls as they bombarded Berserker again and again.

"Dammit… come on… we're… to damn close… move!" It was pain just to even talk. If he had to guess, Eil was already assuming his ribcage was all kinds of broken, and from how hard it was to try and move, his arms weren't in much better condition. And it wasn't helped as a burning feeling began to seep across his body. If one was watching, they'd see hints of white flame flickering across where the injuries were… downright all over his body. _"Dammit… dammit this hurts! There's no time to deal… with this! I have… to get back up now!"_

" _ **And what would you do once you**_ **are** _ **able? As powerful as you are, you are merely human. I doubt you could use that Card once more."**_

"What?" Despite being sure he'd heard a voice, it was like he _hadn't._ Or, more like it had burned directly into his head.

" _ **Speak, child of the stars, and listen."**_

* * *

The scenery suddenly changed before his eyes, and he felt like he was floating suddenly. He could move too, even if his body still felt like it was burning up. And all around him, tendrils of white and purple flames were moving around in the star filled space.

"What the hell is… what's going on?!"

" _ **So you haven't learned yet… you are still young though. Tell me, child of stars, do you know the origin of your blood's power? How it is your ancestors gain the ability to call on the Mystery of the Stars?"**_

"I… no, I don't." Eil answered to the voice's question, but he was still trying to find just _where_ it was even coming from. "Why aren't these flames hot?"

" _ **My brilliant flames may be bright, but they don't burn. I assume your ignorance is due to your age. You seem young, at least in the terms of humans… yet despite this, I feel remarkable potential in your body. You may have the potential to become stronger than even your father."**_

"Wait, what?! The hell are you getting on about? What do you know about dad?!"

" _ **Haven't you ever wondered? Why it is your father would leave for months at a time, returning with odd artifacts and stories of his travels? These are journeys he takes are part of what your family does… the tasks I give them as part of the gifts I bestowed to your ancestor ages ago."**_

"Gifts?"

" _ **Bodies that can heal from any wound, warnings of coming danger, physical and magical abilities above the average human. The power to call on the Mystery within the Stars."**_

"Asterism… wait, the power was given to us? That's… that's like the Fraga's and their Sorcery trait… but, wait, Divine Beings are unable to exist in this Side! They're stuck on the Reverse Side!"

" _ **Indeed. But, I'm not one of those Divine Beings. They are of Man… I am not."**_

"And I guess you're not gonna outright tell me what you are?" Eil got silence as he expected. "Dammit… look, whatever or whoever you are, I don't have time for some pleasant chat! I have to help my friends! They can't take Berserker alone!"

" _ **I am aware of that, and it is why I am here. You need power to defeat that beast, correct? Well, I can offer that power… or more precisely, I can let you use power you already have within you."**_

"What's the catch? These things always have a catch."

" _ **Ahahahaha. I like your drive. Believe it or not child, there isn't much of one. The only "catch" this has is merely continuing the work your father and his father before did. A task someone like you is likely to fulfill when the right time comes… there's no reason to push one so young into that. You have time… and besides, I feel there is much more you have to do yourself before that time."**_

"You won't blame me for thinking some of that is horseshit right? The healing is painful, and the one time I had a premonition I got sick!"

" _ **I don't. I like humans who keep a wary eye. But, I won't deny this will come with… changes. I don't see for humans to lose what makes them, well, human. But I do offer you power. Are you willing to deal with the consequences?"**_

"I want to fight… I want to end this and save them. I'll… whatever comes next, I'll deal with that on my own time. So whatever this deal is, fine, I accept! Whatever your offering, I'm taking!"

" _ **Hmhmhm. Alright then… from this day forward, young Eilwyn, you are a true Zvezda! May the stars guide your future to when next we meet!"**_

* * *

The fighting against Berserker came to a sudden halt as a pulse flew through the air. There was a flicker where Eil was, and then it exploded upwards in a pillar of white and violet flames, the pillar crashing against the "ceiling" of the space. And just as it vanished, another sound hit the air as something rapidly shot forward and crashed into Berserker, a blade bursting from the Servant's body.

And it was Eil who was there, flickers of flame around him as Beserker writhed about.

" **False… Excalibur!"**

With another burst of white and purple flames flickering from the sword, a blast of bright flames shot from the sword, blowing away Berserker's upper portion while tearing through whatever was in front of it, leaving a scorched path in front of it.

"Whoa what… what just happened?" Miyu said, Illya's face lighting up.

"Who cares?! Eil's okay!" Illya said, though her elation gave way to surprise as Eil looked over, and his eyes were glowing a violet color likes the flames they'd just seen. Though maybe that wasn't the weirdest thing, because the sword in his hand changed as well. The blade was pure silver, the hilt golden and blue, like the original sword, but, the glowing lines across it were blue with a purple tinge. Eil was also breathing in a somewhat labored manner, and the sweat on his brow was running down. "Eil?"

"I'm fine… just… burning up like I walked out of a damn fire." Eil muttered, stepping back from the now regenerating Berserker. "But, we need to finish this now! Miyu, use it!"

"Right!" Miyu slapped the Lancer Card to Sapphire, producing the spear into her hands again. And once Berserker had regenerated again, she was already in the air, twirling the spear into a ready position to throw it. **"Gae Bolg!"**

Berserker was instantly met with the thrown spear slamming right into his chest and blowing him into the wall on the other side of the square. When Miyu landed, the spear returned to her and reverted to Sapphire, and the quiet girl shot a thumbs up at Eil and Illya.

"Okay so… do we remember how many lives he has left?" Rin said.

"Wasn't it like… five? No, we don't know how many Illyasviel's big attack got rid of." Lluvia said. With another roar from it, giant stones came flying at everyone, Rin and Lluvia responding by blasting them away with gem shots, while Eil cut one from the air with a swipe of his blade.

"Geez, who the hell cares anymore?" Eil snapped, Berserker walking out from the rubble and smoke.

"Magical Girls tend to have big finishers anyway! Let's just do that!" Illya said, swiping Ruby, "Miyu? If we do it together, I'm sure we can do something!"

"Yeah." Miyu stepped up beside Illya, and Illya gave a chuckle.

"You know, thanks to you and Eil, I think I understand a bit better now." With Illya's words, Ruby gained a pink shaded glow around her. "If you abandon your friends, you can't move forward."

"I think I understand too." A blue glow then came about Sapphire, Miyu looking between Illya and Eil. "Together, we can accomplish things we couldn't alone."

"We're not about to have one of those long winded friendship speeches are we?" Eil snickered as he stepped between the girls, who both chuckled as they then crossed their wands over each other, Eil taking a stance with his sword, drawing the flat across his left sleeve, whipping it around and holding the glowing sword over an eye with both hands gripping the hilt. "We know the gist of it both of you… besides, we're all friends anyway, so not like there's a reason to yammer on to each other!"

"Hey, don't go and cut into things now Eil!" Illya laughed, Eil smirking in response.

"But, that's how it is… you're both my dear friends, so I believe in you both." Miyu added.

"Good, now let's finish this!" Eil's words prompted Illya to pull out the Saber Card, layering it over both Ruby and Sapphire at once.

" _Parallel Include!"_ Illya and Miyu called at the same time, in response to it, the space around all of them changed, becoming an open, reflected sea which they stood on the surface of, reflecting a bright blue sky filled with white clouds above. Above the teens, one Excalibur split into seven as a kaleidoscope formation appeared around them, Illya and Miyu aiming a hand forward as Eil's sword came level to Berserker.

"What the…" Rin murmured, shocked at the sight before her.

"What is this?" Lluvia concluded the thought. In two flashes, Illya and Miyu were then holding their own Excaliburs, both liftin them up as Eil gripped his blade with both hands.

"I'm not one for these flowery speech things… but let's end this and keep going." Eil said, Illya and Miyu nodding.

"Yeah, because we can do anything!" Illya said.

"So let's move forward…" Miyu said, both girls crossing the blades they held with Eil's.

" _Together!"_

Berserker began a charge once again, and at once, all ten blades were pointed at the beast, streams of light coming from all of them and mixing together into one full blast. The force of everything caused waves to form, crashing up against the non-visible walls that were no doubt still present. The massive pillar of light crashed head long into the charging Berserker, engulfing the Servant in brilliant golden light. The final roar of the Servant was matched with the tandem yells of Eil, Illya, and Miyu, a final push bringing the light skyward as Berserker was wiped away in it.

And with a burst that caused golden light to rain down, it was done. The walls of the distorted area had shattered, giving way to the light of morning to start pouring in through the falling shards of it. The Berserker Card drifted down above the three, and Eil caught it with a short hop, the violet glow in his eyes fading as he brought the Card down. The three teens all started to bear pleasant smiles as they looked between each other, relief going through all of them, as did the feelings of warmth as well.

* * *

"Ahh and that's done… geez I'm tired…" Eil was downright stumbling as they exited the front door of the castle and into the bright light of morning, leaning against side of the wall to keep himself standing. "Okay forget being tired… I can hardly move."

"Here, let me help." Illya walked over and put one of Eil's arms over her shoulders, helping give him support… even if she was just tall enough to reach his shoulders, making it a _little_ awkward to pull off.

"Thanks." Eil said. Rin then leaned against the railings at the stairs, all seven Cards in her hands.

"Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Saber, Assassin, and Berserker." The mage counted off each, a chuckle coming from the girl. "We retrieved all the Cards! The mission's completed!"

"Thank goodness." Illya said.

"Let's fire off a big blast to celebrate!" Ruby declared, Eil giving the stick a glare, all he could really do right now.

"Yeah no, idiot stick." Eil grumbled, Sapphire nodding.

"What are you planning?!" Illya yelped.

"Yes, doing that right now would bother the neighbors." Miyu said, Illya and Eil looking at her with flat expressions.

"We're kind of in the middle of the woods." Eil said.

"Yes, and that's not quite the point, Miyu-sama." Sapphire added.

"Illya…" Rin spoke up.

"Miyu…" and so did Lluvia in turn.

"I know we're the ones who dragged you into this, but I'm glad you were there." Rin said.

"Alone, we probably wouldn't have been able to win." Lluvia admitted, then chuckling as she looked at Eil. "Even if we have a Zvezda with their signature Asterisms on our side."

"Hey we three did most of the legwork here!" Eil said, a tone of levity in his voice as he sat down on the stairs. "But, Illya, Miyu, thanks to both of you. Thanks for sticking with us three whackjobs and fighting to the end. You two are the best!"

"Yeup. Thanks you two." Rin added, using Eil's head as an armrest, prompting the boy to give her a look.

"I'd like to give my gratitude as well." Lluvia said, bowing her head a bit.

"Uh, S-Sure." Illya said, her face starting to turn red.

"Ah man, the old man is gonna have a lot to say about this, I bet!" Eil laughed, leaning back with his arms behind his head.

"No doubt. Now, I'll just take this cards back to London and-" Rin was cut off, however, when Lluvia shot forward and plucked the Cards right out of her hands, and as the rich girl come off, a _helicopter_ of all things arrived!

"Oohohohoho!" Came that signature laugh of Lluvia's, the young woman jumping onto the ladder that had come down from the copter. "You lowered your guard at the very end! Do not worry, I shall personally deliver these Cards to the Great Father!"

"You're planning to hog all the glory yourself?!" Rin yelled, already running after Lluvia, Eil giving a growl.

"Seriously you two?! This was never a competition! Knock it the hell off!" Eil pulled himself up as Rin and Lluvia's yelling continued as the copter pulled off, Rin barely managing to jump onto the ladder. "Rin, Lluvia! Come ooooonnn!"

Eil suddenly lurched forward as he tried to move forward, Illya yelping as he came crashing down on her… and the next Eil knew, he found his face pressed into something very soft and springy.

"Owww…." Illya muttered, Eil managing to shoot up on his arms, looking to the side as his movement prompted a bounce from Illya.

"That wasn't on purpose I swear!" Eil snapped, yelping when Illya chuckled and then pulled him down into a hug, burying his face back into her chest.

"It's fine. I'm… just glad you're okay. After what happened, I kind of freaked out a bit." Illya sat back up, doing so to also help Eil sit up as well. "But, well, I said it before. I'm happy you're okay."

"Me too." Miyu said, kneeling down to look Eil in the eye. "I don't want to see a dear friend get hurt."

"Ehehe… man, I went sixteen or so years being near friendless, and now I'm friends with two of the best girls in the world. Ehehehe, I must be luckier than I think." Eil put a hand behind his head, then sighed. "So uh… you two don't mind helping me a bit yeah? I'll call my butler to come get us… obviously since our rides just flew away."

"Ehehe, yeah… ah man, I just remembered it takes hours to walk out of here." Illya muttered, Miyu giving a small chuckle.

"We'll work together then. It won't be a problem."

"Heh… I'm just glad this long night is over." Eil looked up to the morning sky, a smile coming to his face. _"Yeah... feels good."_

* * *

"Hey, Illya!... come on, Sella told me you're not a heavy sleeper, wake up!"

Illya's eyes opened to her vision still being a bit hazy from just waking up, somewhat helped by the gently shoving, familiar strands of near-translucent white hair coming into view before those unmistakable speckled blue eyes did.

"Huh? Eil?"

"Yeah of course it's me. Now c'mon, we're gonna be late if you don't get up soon." Though the snarky tone was left to a surprised "eh" when Illya reached up and wrapped her arms around Eil's neck. "Uh, Illya?"

"Ehehe… Eil~."

"You're kidding me… you're still half-asleep, aren't you?"

"Yeah, maybe. Hey, we worked _really_ hard yesterday…"

"I know. I wasn't able to walk right for several hours. You know that."

"So as a reward, I want…"

"O-Oi! Illya, why're you pulling me closer?! Actually, since when were you this strong?!"

"…a bit of mana, if you don't mind."

"… I really wish I didn't know what you actually meant."

 _Chu_

To say what followed from Illay was chaste would be… an understatement. Was Eil expecting something like what happened, particular for something to worm its way past his forcibly parted lips? Not at all. Especially not with the warm feeling it suddenly brought about for the long, long seconds it lasted for. With a small noise to it, Illya finally parted… and her eyes opened to full alertness.

Which also brought out to the fact the boy in front of her, still stuck clamped by her arms, was a blushing mess… and the small bit of spittle still connecting their lips.

"Kyaaaaaa!" Illya reeled back with a scream as her face started burning, fumbling backward and falling back off the other side of her bed, Eil only not falling face first into the bed thanks to his arms, but he was obviously in a daze. "S-Sorry Eil! I thought I was dreaming or something!"

"So… that's an adult kiss." Eil muttered, his head tilting to the side a bit. "There's a… weird but nice taste in my mouth now…"

"Ahhhh! Please stop! Eil I know you're dazed but please don't say more! Thinking about it is too embarrassing! I'm so sorry!"

"Uh… no it's fine just… warn me next time." Eil coughed into a hand as he stood up, looking away, clearly to hide his still red face. "I just… we have morning duty today so…"

"Ah… I TOTALLY FORGOT!"

* * *

"Whoo, it's a good thing we were early enough for it."

Illya sighed in relief as she and Eil stepped into the class, the entire walk there having been utterly silent due to the results from before.

"But, I'm surprised how much better you are now." Illya added, Eil chuckling as he rolled an arm.

"I recover fast, so no worries about anything there." Eil said, and as the two started to get the classroom prepared, something came to mind. "Hey, Illya, you said you had something else to tell me the other day, what was it?"

"Ah… that." Illya's face turned red again as she stopped wiping down the desk she was at, then she took in a breath. "Well… I…"

"Well, don't go and stammer now." Eil turned around and leaned on the teacher's desk, Illya giving a sigh.

"Well I I… I'd like it if you could be my boyfriend!" Illya said, Eil gaining a surprised expression. "I… really like you Eil, and I want to get to know you more, even if you're not going to be in Fuyuki for a really long time. I just… think you're incredible. You're nice, you always help out and… well, since I met you, I practically got to live out a dream of mine since I was a kid. Sure, it got scary a few times, but, because of it, I met you and Miyu. You were with me the entire way and I'm glad we're friends but… I want to be more to."

To Illya's surprise, Eil's expression was what one could best call a shutdown. His face was horribly red and his expression was stuck on neutral. Illya stepped over and waved a hand in front of Eil's face, the boy then reacting and reeling back, stopping himself from falling over by putting his hands on the edge of the calkboard.

"I… uh, well… that's kind of outta left field isn't it?!"

"Huh? I think it was perfectly timed thank you very much! A classroom in the morning, alone because we happened to be put on class duty together…"

"Uh… w-well… it's just, I'm not sure I'd even make a good boyfriend. I was basically raised separate from people for like, most of my life so I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with romance at all! I mean it's not that I don't like you, I do, but I just have no idea how to even do the boyfriend thing!"

"I don't know how either!" Illya suddenly got _very_ close, stars in her eyes and with sudden enthusiasm in her voice, Eil's face getting redder as a certain couple of objects started pressing into him. "My idea of romance basically only comes from anime and manga, and I always turned down guys who asked me out until now but… I really, really do like you Eil! I want to try!"

"I-It's not like I haven't… thought about something like that… either…"

"Then… like… we could do something after school. A movie, or the amusement park or just… something, and we could talk about it then?"

"Uh… s-sure just… can you back up! Your face is really close, I can feel your breath on my face, and your boobs are pressing into me way too much for me to feel okay with it right now!"

As Illya finally took notice of the position she had put herself in Eil in, what else to happen but the door sliding open? Thankfully (hopefully) it was Miyu standing there, and the quiet girl looked mildly surprised… while Eil and Illya weren't able to budge an inch as their faces went red.

"I was just… I figured I would help you two this morning and… I'm sorry, I won't interrupt." As Miyu was about to shut the door though, the _other door_ blew open, all of Illya's school friend collapsing in as a dogpile of bodies… which really this only made things worse.

"Why is everyone here?!" Illya shouted.

"A boy and a girl alone during class duty?! How could I miss that kind of material?!" Suzuka snapped, shooting upright.

"Miyu said a thing! What's really going on anyway?!" Tatsuko yelled, mostly oblivious to the mood of the room… and what was actually happening in general.

"I'm sorry we interrupted… and that we eavesdropped!" Mimi was barely poking out through the pile, trying to plead forgiveness as she clapped her hands shit.

"After the last incident we had to be sure! Now we know something is going on between you!" Nanaki said, Illya screeching as she backed away from Eil.

"I said that was an accident! Nothing was actually going on then!" Illya shouted, and Eil was already starting to slink away along the wall… but then Miyu shut the door behind her. And then she gave a thumbs up. "That doesn't help Miyu!"

"Ah man… where has my life gone to now?" As Eil spoke though, despite the exasperated tone, a smile came to his face. Banter among friends based on wild accusations they were throwing out and having to explain them… over fighting Servants, he liked this more. With a glance back to the morning light starting to become brighter, that smile only got wider. Illya stopped yelling at her rampant friends as she looked back at Eil and saw the pleasant expression on his face, her own grin forming, and Miyu wasn't long in gaining one of her own as she stepped over to her friends. "Well then… since everyone is here, you're _all_ helping Illya and I clean up the room before class!"

* * *

 _ **I wasn't sure if it was the words of that odd entity or something else, but, I want to enjoy these moments for as long as I can have them. But, I'm a Zvezda. I know that sooner or later, trouble is bound to be around the corner. But, now I have friends to face that with, whatever it'll be… so I'll face whatever comes next head on.**_

 _ **Because after all, a Zvezda is guided by the Asterisms in the sky… so I'll take Polaris as my guide and go wherever that path leads me. And a path I won't have to walk alone.**_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Extra treat for ya'll, an extra long chapter to close up this cour before we get to diving into 2wei… and whoo boy will that be one heck of a ride with the set up. Hehehe, I can't bloody wait. See ya then!**


	14. Zwei Chapter 1

Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei

 **Chapter 1: Back on Deck**

"There. Can't even tell there was a hole now."

Eil tossed the hammer he had aside as he leaned back a bit on the roof of the estate, though even with what he said there was at least _something_ of a mark to what had previous been a hole… coincidentally right over his bedroom.

"HEY! Don't just throw stuff around, you could hurt somebody!"

"You're the reason we had to fix this hole in the first place!"

Eil slid down from the roof and onto the ground with a quick move, Rin tapping a foot while the hammer he'd thrown was stuck in the ground near her. The reason for said hole was rather simple… Rin had fallen through it during the previous scuffle with Lluvia in the helicopter.

"Not to mention the fact it took a month because of what else we had to replace to fix it."

"Well ex-cuse me." Rin responded, Eil sighing.

"Need I remind you why it is you and Lluvia are stuck here for a year again?" Eil said, Rin proceeding to clam up. "If it wasn't for those attitudes you wouldn't be in this mess either! Geez. And we'd been doing _so well_ up until then."

"You saw what happened! That hyena was gonna run off with the Cards and hog all the glory for herself!"

"So you jumped onto the ladder and ended up crashing a helicopter… and of all places it had to be _near my house!?_ You two are lucky nobody saw that!"

"Ohhh? My my, you two argue like an old married couple!" Taiga then took such a time to slide on out, a hand near the woman's mouth as she chuckled, the two mages just giving her flat stares. "Keep acting like that Eil and you'll make Illya-chan jealous! Shame on you, flirting with another girl behind her back!"

"You're the one making it sound weird!" Both Eil and Rin snapped in response to Taiga's teasing tone, the woman laughing about it.

"Hey, Taiga, don't you need to get to school early?" Eil coolly spoke as he put his hands on his hips, Taiga yelping. "Did you forget?"

"I did not! It just slipped my mind for a moment! I'll see you in class! ORYAAAA!" With that ferocious yell, Taiga turned and dashed off back through the house.

"Geez… it's hard to keep putting up with her. And she's been showing up here more and more ever since a month ago!" Rin said, Eil chuckling as he followed his senior back into the house.

"Well… obvious reason should be obvious. She's just being herself." Eil pocketed his hands as he said so, Rin just sighing. While it wasn't like one could understand the reasonable amount of suspicion one could have on the basic fact Eil and Rin were a similarly aged boy and girl living "alone" together (one had to take the family servants into account)… but then add on the fact in the month that had since passed since Eil and Illya had effectively started dating, the Einzbern girl had regularly made a point of visiting the compound.

And often spending the night to boot.

Though when Eil thought about it, that month came with what could be called surprisingly little groundway in terms of certain things. Dates on the weekend were nice, and had been a good way for Eil to learn more about Fuyuki thanks to Illya's knowledge of the city, and fun ways to learn more about one another's choices of hobbies and other such topics. All was well and good on that end, being friends and dating was a good combination he had to say… even if he still felt like he hardly knew what the hell he was doing.

 _"But then there's_ that end _of things."_ How could he put it? When it comes to being more on the intimate side, Illya was both bold but innocent. Her stays over had quickly started resulting in her sneaking into Eil's bed at night, and casual physical contact wasn't an issue. After getting over that _one_ incident, Eil was confident in being able to say that kissing was achieved… but no further than that. Both in part because Eil himself didn't know about taking anything further, and because Illya tended to "blank out" if they _did_ try anything more.

Which at times was more than a bit troublesome for Eil to deal with because of the fact Illya had quite the tempting body… that particular incident where they learned Miyu worked as a maid at times still had him stuck on it… and the newfound casual physical contact had downright engraved the feeling of the girl's curves pressing into him onto his brain.

 _"It's always so soft… her lips, her body it's… AHHH! No no no, not the time to be thinking about this!"_ He wanted to start hitting himself a bit, _especially_ when he started imaging Illya in lingerie… on a bed… with arms stretched out too him and cooing his name. "AHHHHHHH!"

"Eesh?! Why are you randomly screaming? Wait… why is your nose bleeding?" Rin pointed at Eil's face, and that was when he noticed something on his upper lip and down to his chin.

"Uh, it's nothing." Eil pulled out a small clothed and wiped away the blood, muttering as he saw the red stain on it. "Ah wait… aghh, I just remembered what we've gotta take care of today."

"Ah yeah. Be sure to tell Illya and Miyu about it. We're gonna need Sapphire and Ruby to get the job done." Rin said, Eil nodding as he pocketed the cloth.

"Yeah yeah, I won't forget about it." Eil said, stretching an arm. "Alright, let's get the new day started!"

* * *

It was a normal day for the elementary kids as far as they were concerned, a quiet, normal day in class as June continued on, the summer heat beginning to settle in. Though, as Eil had learned, with the group of friends he'd more or less been inducted into over this past month, the beginning of the day wouldn't be quiet for long.

"Let's go to the beach!" Tatsuko came barreling in as loud as ever, Edge blinking at how she was wearing a bow up ring around her waist as she dashed over, constantly repeating "Beach" again and again like a broken record.

"Tatsuko it's _June._ Isn't it a bit too early to make summer plans? Wait what am I saying? If I was back in England I'd already be making plans…" Eil murmured, hanging his head.

"What is it, Tatsuko?" Illya asked, then the usual peanut gallery arrived.

"Plans for summer." Suzuka muttered, grabbing Tatsuko by the head to halt the small blonde, "It's June but she's all excited already!"

"I see." Illya chuckled.

"The beach? What do you do at the beach?" Miyu asked, earning a confused look from Tatsuko.

"What do you do? You swim of course!" Tatsuko declared, Miyu tilting her head, "Oh! School swimsuits are forbidden! You each have to bring your most erotic swimsuit!"

"Uh… Tatsuko have you ever heard of _modesty?"_ Eil's retort was done quickly, but then he felt his head starting to burn as that idea brought to mind something… what'd Illya and Miyu look like in choice swimsuits. _"NO! Don't think about it don't think about it!"_

"Quiet pretty boy! You should feel honored you'll get to go on a beach trip with not just your girlfriend, but a bunch of other pretty girls too! You're a veritable protagonist type!" Tatsuko said, Eil's expression now shifting to a confused one as he looked at the blonde, Illya however, seemingly off in lala land with her hands on her cheeks.

"The hell are you on about?" Eil grumbled, sighing and leaning his chin on a hand, Tatsuko spinning around and starting to run off.

"Settle down!" Nanaki snapped, landing a solid uppercut to Tatsuko's floatie, Tatsuko ending up flat on her stomach after the impact.

"That had to hurt." Edge mused.

"Oh… Miyu, have you never been to the beach before?" Illya turned to the other girl as she asked, Edge peering in as it piqued his interest, Miyu nodding.

"Then we should all go together!" Mimi suggested.

"Knowing you I bet you're a fast swimmer." Suzuka chuckled, "With the beach this close, it'd be a waste not to go!"

"Hope it's better than back in the England. Odds of finding a place to swim that isn't a pool are next to none if you're the cautious type. But then back at my home in Russia swimming is a purely indoor thing." Eil murmured, Illya patting him on the shoulder as his mood suddenly sank.

"I-If Illya and Eil are going..." Miyu murmured, Illya and Eil glancing at once another.

"Yeah, let's all go together!" Illya nodded, Eil shrugging.

"Hey why not? A beach trip sounds fun." Eil nodded, leaning on a hand as he spun a pen in the other.

"Alright, it's settled then!" Suzuka nodded, leaning on the window.

"I can't wait." Mimi giggled.

"Turtles! Bring on the turtles!" Tatsuko yelled. "We'll rescue them, then eat them dancing!"

"I doubt we're gonna find any turtles Tatsuko." Eil sighed.

"You're making the Dragon King's Palace shudder…" Nanaki murmured.

 _"Well everyone is as lively as ever."_ Eil thought, an amused grin on his face, _"And Miyu seems to have changed a bit. Still a bit shy, but she's actually talking to the others now. Still… hard to believe it's been around a month since then… since I arrived in this town and ended up in that crazy mess with those Cards. Hard to believe that all fell down to a chance encounter on that bridge… and then things just got crazier as the battles go harder. We got hurt, physically and emotionally… but, in the end we pulled through."_

Edge's grin then faded when he thought about what _else_ had happened… to both him and Illya, those weird moments where something seemed to overtake her, and what had happened to him during the Berserker fight, that being he met, the one called Oryx… a being of white and purple flames.

 _"But then there were those moments… what_ was _all of that? Illya entering some kind of trance… and then that Oryx thing. That one had something to do with my family, but I still have no idea what any of that was… but I just_ know _it has to be something important. Odds are… it's linked to the fact she's an Einzbern."_

* * *

At a public park not too far from the high school, Eil was sitting up in one of the trees as the girls played around on the park equipment, everyone snacking on the ice cream they'd ordered (courtesy of Eil's pocket money), though Eil was stuck in thoughts again as he shifted to hang upside down and stare up at the clouds as they rolled by.

"Hmmm… I need to find a chance to tell Illya and Miyu about that thing we need to take care of." Eil said, tossing the trash in his hands into the nearby trash can with precise aim despite the whole "hanging upside down" bit, "Guess using the Archer card helped my accuracy a bit…"

"Eil."

Eil blinked, looking down from his cloud watching to see Miyu standing before him, flipping off of the branch and pocketing his hands.

"Yeah?" Eil hummed, Miyu scraping some ice cream onto the wooden spoon and holding it out to him.

"Ah." Miyu hummed, holding the stick out, Eil blinking, glancing around at how the rest were watching, but shrugging.

"Ahhh." Eil opened his mouth and took the treat, humming at the sweet flavor, "Not bad."

"AAAHHHHH!" Illya suddenly gave a scream and dashed over, swiping off a rather large bit of her own treat and holding it out, "Say ahh!"

"Eh?" Eil raised a brow, Illya's stern look saying otherwise, Eil sighing again, "Alright alright, ahh."

Illya then, rather than the stick, nearly shoved the entire cone into his mouth.

"Why the sudden reaction?" Miyu asked, Illya nearly ripping the cone out of Eil's mouth as she yelped, Eil gagging a bit as he held his throat and stumbled backwards.

"Eh? W-Well, why did _you_ feed Eil in the first place?" Illya demanded.

"Because the others did it, so I got curious." Miyu stated, Eil still gaging a bit as he held his throat from. "But I don't think there was a need for you to react like that."

"I-It's just that… Eil is a boy so while it may be normal for friends among girls to do that… o-only couples actually feed each other! And I'm Eil's girlfriend so I should be the one feeding him treats like this!" Illya proclaimed, Eil raising a brow at the statement.

"That… makes no sense. Though maybe that's just the wording you used." Eil said, Illya shooting a look at him.

"Don't act innocent!" Illya snapped, trying to hide the fact she was quite flustered, "Ah… wait… AHHH! My entire cone is gone!"

"Pffhehe… well you did kinda shove it into my face." Eil snickered, Illya shuffling back and forth a bit in embarrassment, Miyu giving a small chuckle of her own. While elsewhere…

"My my, did you see that, Nanaki-san?" Suzuka chuckled.

"Almost like the last time something like this happened between the three of them. Look at how passionate they are, Suzuka-san." Nanaki chuckled.

"I'm glad all three of you are so close now." Mimi chuckled, Illya and Eil raising a brow.

"You three are so steamy Suzuka's ice cream melted!" Tatsuko laughed, spinning like a maniac on the twirling playset.

"Yeup… WAIT! You ate mine didn't you?!" Suzuka snapped, getting revenge by reversing Tatsuko's spin.

"You were guys were doing it too, I don't see the problem." Eil muttered, "Besides, I'm the one who paid for all of it… for some reason."

"Eil is right. Mimi and Nanaki did it too!" Illya stated, the other two shaking their heads. "I mean… I wanted to do more with it though."

"I don't recall." Nanaki snickered.

"Nope!" Mimi giggled, Eil sighing.

"That's mean you two!" Illya snapped, throwing her clenched hand up, "That much is normal between friends isn't it?!"

"Not when one of the friends is a boy. Especially when you're reaction is like _that_ just because another girl shared her food with him. Oh by the way Illya, have you and Eil finally done it? Have you?! _Have you?!_ I need het material!" Suzuka chuckled.

"Suzuka!" Illya shouted, her face starting to burn crimson, Eil coughing into a hand.

"Not something that we need to talk about in public!" Eil snapped, Suzuka cackling as she spun around a bit.

Eil was also almost not surprised that he was immediately confused as the walk through town continued on, the girl's eventually getting into swimsuit talk that just left the foreign boy at a complete loss, so he chose simply to remain quiet on the matter.

 _"I'm just gonna pick out some trunks and a beach shirt… can't be that complicated can it?"_ Eil thought, sighing with his arms behind his head as they stopped at the next crosswalk.

Only for a rather familiar limo to screech to a halt in front of the kids and within the next moment, Eil, Illya, and Miyu were pulled into the car, leaving their friends to stand in stunned silence as the limo shot off.

"Miyu… she's been kidnapped!" Tatsuko shouted, Mimi's hand shooting for a whistle in her pocket. "What do we do, hey what do we do?!"

"Officer!" Mimi shouted, blowing on the whistle with all her might

"Come on, calm down!" Suzuka spoke as she and Nanaki stopped the two panicking girls.

"Isn't that car from Miyu's place?" Nanaki added, everyone staring at the rear end of the limo as it continued off along the road.

* * *

And meanwhile in the limo, while Miyu and Illya were recovering from being yanked in, Eil looked rather annoyed above anything else as he sat up on the seat.

"Was that really necessary?!" Eil snapped, looking up to see none other than Rin and Lluvia, dressed in the local high school uniforms of all things, sitting before the trio of students and the Kaleidosticks, Illya and Miyu looking somewhat surprised to see the older girls yet again.

"Sorry it's so sudden." Rin stated.

"There's work to do." Lluvia added, Eil sighing. "Eil, did you explain the situation to them?"

"I uh… was going to be getting to that. But we were around the normals, so I couldn't." Eil replied, Rin shaking her head.

"Then let us. It has to do with the ley lines, somewhat predictably." Rin sighed, a hand on her forehead. "It shouldn't be too hard to fix.

"We've been tasked with restoring the damage left by the Cards. We _did_ seal any perforations, but for some reason they haven't been recovering naturally as expected." Lluvia added, Eil folding his arms.

"That is weird. Leylines normally replenish pretty quickly once they've had any leaks sealed up, and considering the amount of leylines gathered here in Japan, especially in several areas here in Fuyuki, it's odd they _haven't_ been fully restored." Eil explained, Rin nodding.

"And that's the issue. Hopefully they're neither plugged or restricted. So we're going to inject high density mana into the ley lines." Rin explained.

"Which you can do with just us since Illya and Miyu have the Kaleidosticks. Ruby, Sapphire, your prana reserves come from Second Magic." Eil said, the two Mystic Codes nodding, "Which makes it easy. They have an infinite mana supply, so they're perfect for the injection we have to perform."

"Well no surprise you know that. You are Zelretch's current apprentice." Rin murmured, a hint of jealousy in her tone, Lluvia grumbling as well, Eil looking to the side with a chuckle.

"What can you expect?" Eil said, clearing his throat, looking to Illya and Miyu. "But, yeah… we kinda need your help with this one."

"Same." Rin closed the subject, the younger three teenagers looking between themselves, Ruby humming as she floated out.

"My… judging by those uniforms you and Lluvia-san must have transferred to the high school recently, right?" Ruby mused, completely ignoring the previous subject.

"Yes." Lluvia answered, though Rin wasn't as receptive to the change in subject.

"Were you even listening to me?!" Rin began throttling Ruby, the Kaleidostick gagging (rather fakely at that) at the deadly vice that was Rin's grip.

"That reminds me… what happened to the Cards we gathered?" Illya inquired, Rin releasing Ruby.

"We have them, Lluvia and I, half each." Rin clarified.

"But there's seven." Eil added.

"But weren't you trying to steal the Cards from each other before?" Illya's inquiry continued, Ruby nodding. "I mean it got bad enough, Rin fell through Eil's roof and the helicopter came close to crashing in his back yard."

"Indeed! They even involved a helicopter in their distasteful dispute!" Ruby chuckled, spinning around to imitate the helicopter rotors, Eil picturing _how_ that could have happened in his head.

"I feel sorry for that pilot. Good thing he wasn't too badly injured." Eil murmured.

"Ohhohohoho! Whatever are you saying? Right, Rin Tohsaka?" Lluvia laughed, Eil's look _immediately_ hitting that flat stare that said he was _about_ to say something snarky.

"Yes, I'm a Japanese woman who values harmony. Why would I be part of such an unseemly argument?" Rin asked, Illya and Miyu blinking.

"To translate, both of them were informed that neither could return to the Mage's Association until they learned to cooperate." Sapphire stated.

"Thank you, Sapphire." Eil nodded, Sapphire nodding in return.

"I still think there's something wrong about fighting so hard you crash a helicopter." Miyu pointed out the absurdity of such an event once again, Eil nodding.

"Ahahahaa! They're both hopeless idiots!" Ruby cackled, Rin and Lluvia's eyes shifting to glares, Eil lowering five fingers on one hand in time enough to when Rin and Lluvia went for each other's throats.

"Took them long enough." Eil snidely remarked.

"You think they'll actually learn cooperation?" Illya asked.

"No." Eil bluntly replied.

"It seems more like they tactfully rid themselves of a nuisance." Ruby quipped.

The rest of the car ride was spent with the first years having to listen to Rin and Lluvia argue, though when they finally _did_ reach their destination, the sun was starting to set, and the group found themselves face to face with the many, _many_ steps leading up to the local temple yet again.

"Last time we were here was to fight Caster." Miyu noted.

"No matter how often I see them, I don't want to go up." Illya commented, looking somewhat intimidated by the amount of steps.

"Man the mana here feels as strong as it did last time. I'm surprised the leylines bunched up around here could be that damaged." Eil looked at the map of the leylines he still had from before, noting this particular area was one of the three very large clumps of the "veins" the leylines were marked by.

"Yeup. Let's stop dawdling and get moving!" Rin stated, the march up the steps beginning, Eil mystified by the air around the place, even if they weren't even at the temple grounds itself. It was like he was finally noticing things he didn't have the time to think about before… or maybe now, he was more in tune to them due to the recent changes he'd experienced.

 _"The amount of prana in this area has to be insane, enough where… right… Fuyuki City is where the Grail Wars took place… that ritual connected to those Cards… but from what I read, don't physical Spirits get summoned like what was formed from the Cards? Eh, questions for later I suppose."_ Eil thought, stopping at a certain point, swearing he saw a flash of _something,_ two blindingly fast figures with blades clashing, but the image was too short and too fuzzy for Eil to properly make anything out of it, "What was that?"

"Eil? Are you okay?"

Eil felt like he'd snapped back, looking over to see Illya looking at him with a concerned expression, Miyu following Rin and Lluvia down another path to the side.

"Hm? Uh, yeah! It was nothing, just zoned out for a bit is all! Ehe… don't worry Illya, I'm fine." Eil chuckled, Illya tilting her head as he walked past her, the troupe continuing on through the woods, Sapphire eventually coming out from her hiding spot in Miyu's hair.

"Nee-san, I think it's best we don't come out too often in places where people may see us." Sapphire warned against Ruby's rather uncaring tendency of showing herself.

"That's true. It's safer to hide in Illya's hair anyway!" Ruby quipped, the group stopping at one a cliff face, much to Illya's confusion.

"It seems there's a barrier here." Lluvia observed, looking up and down the cliff face.

"A barrier?" Illya asked, Eil nodding. "Oh right, you've been teaching me about those as of late!"

"It was likely put up to keep normal people out. If this is a ley line spot, it'd be best to try and keep the area under wraps for security reasons." Eil explained.

"Then we won't be able to enter will we?" Illya asked, Lluvia shaking her head.

"A barrier of this level poses no problem for us." Lluvia stated, Rin looking back to the younger trio.

"Illya, stand back please." Rin spoke, the first years doing as told, the air beginning to whip around as Rin lifted her hand, and within moments of the gale started, it ended, revealing that behind the false cliff face was an open glade within the tree line, Illya aweing at the sudden reveal, "Now, let's go."

 _"For a couple of temperamental hot heads, I can't deny that Rin and Lluvia are skilled magi in their own right."_ Eil thought, pocketing his hands, _"Even if they're always fighting each other, they at least know how to handle themselves."_

Though Eil immediately felt like retracting his opinion on the two as, _right_ in front of them, the year-older teenagers ended up falling right into a rather obvious bog as if they hadn't even noticed it was there in the first place, Eil and Miyu sharing a blank but disillusioned looks, while Illya merely blinked, a forced, rather crooked grin forming as she tilted her head, the three approaching the bog and kneeling over the lip.

"A-A bottomless bog-" Illya murmured, Rin and Lluvia bursting up from below as they flailed about, covered head to toe in the dark liquid.

"Why is there such a lethal trap here?!" Rin screamed.

"What do you mean?!" Lluvia shouted, the first-years looking between themselves, Illya grabbing Rin's arms, while Miyu grabbed Lluvia by her _hair,_ the two starting to pull immediately. "OW OW! Why are you grabbing my hair Miyu?! This is not a way to help your older sister!"

"I retract my earlier praise on these two… they're idiots." Eil sighed, a hand on his forehead, Miyu and Illya not having any luck with pulling the mage duo out as they were.

"Uh-oh, it doesn't appear you can pull them out." Ruby chuckled.

"Miyu-sama, with a bottomless bog, I believe we'll have no trouble disposing of the bodies." Sapphire stated, Eil's eyes widening at the rather demure Mystic Code saying something of that sadistic nature.

"Now isn't the time to be saying that is it?!" Illya yelped.

"Illya, in this case…" Miyu murmurd.

"Yeah but…" Illya muttered, her face flushing a bit.

"But what?" Miyu asked.

"Eil is standing right there! Do we really want to let him watch us Trans?!" Illya stated, outright hissing the words to try and keep Eil from hearing her.

"I don't get why you're so embarrassed. I mean you two are dating." Miyu bluntly replied.

"That's not the point Miyu!" Illya whined, shuffling a bit. "I'm just still not comfortable with the idea of him seeing me… like that while it's happening."

"But there was that…"

"We promised not to talk about that time!" Illya snapped.

"I'll keep them above the water, you two do your thing." Eil stated, grabbing an arm from both of the other teens, more or less simply sitting as the flashing lights and such of Illya and Miyu entering Trans in the non-immediate manner began, Rin and Lluvia flailing about while Eil just planted himself on his rear, "Can you two please stop struggling?"

"Eil, we're done!" Illya spoke, Rin growling.

"About time! Get us out of here!" Rin snapped, Miyu and Illya taking holds themselves.

"One, two…" The three spoke, yanking Rin and Lluvia out with hard pulls, Lluvia and Rin coughing and spluttering once they hit the ground.

"And with that done can we now find the insertion point?" Eil asked, hands on his hips.

* * *

"Pheeoooo. This is a big ass cave." Eil let out a whistle as he looked around the rather large space inside of the cave they'd been lead to, noting the rather loud echoing going on.

"I didn't know this was here." Illya awed, Lluvia at the same time finishing the set up for the ritual, placing the last gem in the circle that had been made.

"Okay, let's finish this quickly and head home." Rin then reached into the case she had, pulling out a staff of twisted wood and jabbing it into the ground, a magic circle forming from its base as the staff then grew and expanded like a tree reaching towards the ceiling of the cave, "Finished placing the dowser."

"So, _this_ is what a ley line dowser looks like." Eil hummed, looking down at the spinning magic circle as it rose up around them. "I'll take another position."

Rin nodded to that, Eil stepping to the side and forming a triangle with the other two magi, Illya and Miyu standing right at the dowser with the Kaleidosticks ready.

"Commence mana injection!" Rin shouted, Illya and Miyu aiming the sticks at the dowser, Eil and Lluvia placing a hand on the ground each, and a progressively brighter glow began emanating from the magic circles and the dowser as mana flowed into it.

"Injection at ten percent." Lluvia stated, keeping a read on the process, Eil noting that it was possible to feel the mana flowing into the ground itself from where he was, Rin also placing a hand on the ground, "Twenty… Thirty… Forty… Fifty…"

"Maintain output at those levels!" Rin ordered, Illya looking up at the glowing dowser.

"Sixty-five… Eighty… Ninety-five… One hundred!" Lluvia shouted.

"Release!" Rin snapped, the Eil's eyes wide as he watched the flow of energy move down the dowser in a twirling ribbon of light, the glow growing brighter and brighter before eventually fading down, the dowser returning to its original staff form.

"Are we done?" Illya asked, the magi standing, Eil nodding.

"That should be it, right? Cause I've got a prickling on the back of my neck." Eil murmured, feeling a burning sensation starting to ebb across him. _"Not again…"_

"At least for now." Rin replied, "Until we measure again, we won't know how successful it was."

"For now, our work is complete. Let's leave and go home." Lluvia stated, Eil rubbing the back of his head as he gave a sigh, then he felt that familiar danger sense start blaring in his head as the ground seemed to shift, the ground beginning to shake, the ground then beginning to split from the dowser, violet light coming from the cracks in the earth.

"Knockback?!" Rin gasped.

"Crap!" Eil yelped, the ground starting to cave, Rin and Lluvia getting carried up on a large chunk that shot up as the floor collapsed, Illya shooting up after them, Eil and Miyu getting in front of her.

"Illya, we'll handle this!" Eil stated, pushing off from mana foot holds. "Connect, Pegasus!"

"You secure our escape!" Miyu added, Illya nodded as the other two grabbed Rin and Lluvia, the two dodging the rocks as they pushed off of the air, though as they headed for the exit, an all too large chunk began falling in front of them, Eil already reacting as he lifted his free hand, ready to cast a spell of his own to stop it, but as he was, he saw Illya streaking towards them, her expression falling blank as her eyes changed color, and with a flash, she had wordlessly Installed the Archer card from Rin's pocket.

Eil was barely keeping up with the lightning fast movements, Illya calling forth a four layered bounded field, the light from the burst of mana being blinding as things came down around the group.

"Illya?!" Eil shouted, the light eventually becoming blinding, and next Eil knew, he found himself on the ground, staring up at the roof of the cave from atop a pile of rubble, dust settling all around everywhere else that could be seen, "Oww…"

"Is everyone okay?!" Ruby shouted, Eil looking down to see a battered but relatively unharmed Rin and Miyu, jumping down to the ground, noting that there was a bit of a warm feeling on his face, likely bleeding from a gash.

"Just now, what was that?!" Rin coughed, Lluvia shooting up herself, a rock perfectly balanced on her head, and she seemed perfectly ignorant of the stone _and_ the blood on her face, Eil almost reeling back in surprise.

"Yes, I'm fine-But you aren't, Lluvia-nee-san." Miyu murmured, Lluvia lifting a brow.

"How are you keeping that so perfectly balanced?" Eil murmured, looking around, _"Where's Illya? And, what happened back there? She used the Archer card all of a sudden for some reason. And her eyes… they looked like they did back then."_

"Illya, where are you?!" Rin shouted.

"Over here!" Illya's voice carried over from a short way off, sighs of relief going around as she looked relatively unharmed, "My head hurts, I think I hit it!"

"Ah thank goodness." Eil sighed, trotting after Miyu as she went ahead, though it only took moments for everyone else to stop dead and reel back in shock, "What the hell…?"

"What is this?!" Rin gasped.

"What's going on?" Lluvia murmured, Illya lifting a brow.

"Illya… next to you." Eil pointed out, his eyes stuck on the fact that, right next to Illya, there was now someone else, a perfect look-alike to the girl with tanned skin and pale lavender hair, her a mysterious golden color, the same one Eil remembered seeing before, the doppelganger also garbed in a tattered, caped version of the Archer install… and the one who was the most confused by this was Illya herself, who could only stare in wide eyed shock.

But, what came to a surprise to Eil was when the Illyas managed to look away… and the dark Illyas gaze fell right to Eil, the boy blinking as a small smile curled onto her face.

 _"What the hell is going on?!"_ Eil's thoughts perfectly matched his expression, nothing but shock, but for some reason, a strange familiarity rose up in the back of his mind, one that left him at a complete and utter loss as his eyes remained fixed on the other Illya's smile.

 _ **"It was that day, the day Illya became two people, that I think the story**_ **really** _ **began for us… a new beginning spawned from the end of the first story, but it was this beginning that was bound to spiral into more. And it all began here, with thisgolden eyed girl who'sfirst expression towards me was a smile."**_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well this was a surprising case of "don't need to fix what isn't broken." With the way 2wei is some of my workload should be a bit lighter for this first arc of it from what I did beforehand. Not too bad of a deal honestly. Of course I'mma add PLENTY of things due to all the stuff that's going on. Some of it well be lewd, I can assure that one.**


	15. Zwei Chapter 2

_Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei_

 **Chapter 2: Twin Blades**

" _And now, the sign with the worst luck for today is… We're sorry, those of you who are Cancers! Nothing you do is likely to go well today. If you have no reason to go out, it's best you stay at home. Your lucky color is sky blue. Your lucky item is a red-"_

 _Click_

"I call bullshit." Eil sighed as he set the TV remote down, Rin also at the table for breakfast, looking over some notes in a book she had in her hands. "I'd trust a divination more than I would stupid horoscopes."

"Doesn't that fancy Zvezda magecraft of yours have something for that?" Rin mused, throwing Eil a snide grin, the boy just giving her a flat glance.

"Funny Rin. No, I in fact do not." Eil was now spinning a few small balls of light around a hand with small motions. "But I will admit I'm feeling off about today for some reason… more like I feel off because of what happened the other day."

"Yeah there is that… ugh, our work just keeps piling on doesn't it?" Rin sighed, clapping her book shut, Eil nodding as he shoved an egg into his mouth.

"That it is… two Illyas? This is gonna be a mess, I can just tell…"

"Ah it'll be fine… maybe. I mean it's not like both would lay a claim on your as their boyfriend and try fighting each other to the death now. That'd just be absurd… among many things we see regularly."

"Says the girl who is part of the reason our actual school is _still_ rebuilding a few wings… seriously Lord El Melloi isn't shutting up about it every time he calls."

"Oh don't keep bringing that up!" Rin flung a bit of wasabi at Eil, the boy casually flicking a finger, a small ember of white fire catching the spicy green foodstuff in midair, Eil mugging at Rin as she muttered at him. "Geez…. So what _are_ we gonna do about that huh? The other Illya ran off first thing."

"We'll… have to figure that out. First thing is _catching_ her." Eil leaned back and sighed as he stared at the ceiling, then sitting back straight. "Let's worry about it later. We can figure out what to do after school."

And that was when Eil felt a sudden chill down his spine, looking over his shoulder, swearing for just a moment that he could sense a presence nearby, just at the edge of the property.

* * *

"I hate it when I have bad feelings on nice days… dammit, why couldn't things just be easy?" Eil put a hand behind his head as he and Rin followed their now typical route to school, Rin stretching her arms.

"Ah don't worry. You're being too uneasy."

"I feel I have every right to be uneasy! What with a damn cave having collapsed on us when we tried to fix the ley line, least of all that _somehow,_ there's now another Illya running around who _may or may not_ have come from the Archer Card! Which, obviously, _we cannot let people find out about."_

"Ueeehhhh… yeah, you're right. Dammit, if this is found out this could be bad!" Rin wheezed, Eil nodding as he ruffled his head.

"You're telling me! Last time I got in trouble with the old man he dropped my ass into some alternate dimension! Somehow it was some island where I met a bunch of tiny sparrow-people… who were led by a small girl with a bird for a hat and beak-like thing on her forehead… who yelled at me because an attempt at cooking at a campfire exploded in my face… I was there for a week. It was hell." Eil grumbled a bit, though then another thought came to mind. He thought back to the other night… he just couldn't get that image out of his head. _"That other Illya… that smile didn't feel normal to me. There's something weird about her beyond that too… if I'm right and she_ did _form around the Archer Card… would that make her like a Heroic Spirit?"_

"Hm… hey, shouldn't we be running into Illya and Miyu about now?" Rin noted, Eil stopping and looking around. "Yeah we should be… did something happen?"

"I dunno… she was fine after that. Maybe mana backlash kicked in?" Eil put a hand on his chin as he thought… and that was when they heard an explosion, causing the white-haired boy to give a long sigh. "Rin… what was that?"

"Well… either someone set a bomb off in the sewers, explaining that geyser of water…" The two then heard another loud crash, followed by yelling. "… or something is happening. And I _think_ it involves Illya."

The two got their answer when indeed, Illya came sprinting by while screaming her head off, narrowly dodging a _bolt of lightning,_ the two magi students dead quiet as they watched Illya run off, then looking at each other, and to where the bolt could have even _possibly_ come from considering the sparse clouds.

"Well at least we know Illya is practicing Fortification." Rin murmured, Eil giving a sigh.

"Let's catch up with her and see what this mess is about."

Rin nodded as Eil tapped a foot, both gaining glowing lines at their legs before shooting off after Illya, and by the time they _did_ catch up, they were outside of the school, and Illya was limping along using a broom to hold herself up.

"Oi, Illya!" Eil called out, Illya turning to the boy and Rin, giving a weak chuckle.

"Oh, Eil, Rin… g-good morning… and goodbye." Illya immediately went unconscious not a moment later, Eil moving to catch her as she fell.

"The hell?! She looks like she got hit by a truck!" Eil hefted Illya up, Rin blinking a couple of times.

"That's just weird… none of the things that went after her could've been natural." Rin murmured, then gasping. "Maybe it was that dark Illya!"

"Eil-san, Rin-san? What happened to Illya?" The magi turned to see Miyu and Lluvia rushing out from past the gate, Eil shrugging.

"No clue. We were on our way here, and by the time we got to the spot we normally meet up with Illya at, well… water geyser and sudden lightning bolt." Eil said, keeping it terse. "Look, let's just get her to the infirmary first!"

"Oh my, that is quite the state to be left in…" Lluvia remarked, Rin clicking her tongue.

"Shut up and help us!" The twin-tailed girl snapped, everyone nodding and rushing into the school grounds.

* * *

When Illya finally regained consciousness, amid the confusion from noting she was indeed in the nurse's office, it was the fact she was greeted by someone who was _clearly_ a teenager rather than an adult, in fact she was _also_ pretty darn sure she recognized this girl. She glanced around, and also in the room were Eil and Miyu.

"You weren't too injured. Those were only scratches." Caren's bored tone matched the listless expression on her face, twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. It was boring. Next time you visit, come with some more life threatening injuries. Like an arm torn off, or your head twisted twice around."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure those aren't things people commonly live through." Eil muttered, glaring at the "nurse", "And I have _many_ questions for you."

"Of course you do, my dear stargazer." Caren remarked, Eil's glare only sharpening.

"She's awfully eccentric. Is she really a nurse?" Ruby whispered from just under Illya's head.

"Sh-she should be." Illya whispered.

"Well, if you aren't feeling well, you should lie down a while." Caren stated, turning and closing the curtain, leaving the other three teenagers shaded by it.

"I really do not understand her. One minute she's a damn priestess and the next she's a nurse." Eil grumbled as he leaned on a hand, Miyu giving a hum.

"So that's why she looks familiar. Didn't we meet her that one time?" Miyu said, Eil nodding. "But, aside from that, Illya, are you alright?"

"Yeah you kinda had the look of someone who got hit by a damn truck earlier." Eil said, helping Illya sit up, the white-haired girl nodding.

"Don't worry you two, I'm fine. Injuries like this are no big deal!" Illya said, pumping an arm. "Besides, thanks to the training we've been getting from Eil, I'm a lot tougher than I was a month ago."

"I actually didn't mean that." Miyu said, "After yesterday, has there been any change in your condition?"

"Oh, damn that's right." Eil muttered, putting a hand to Illya's forehead, the girl's face immediately popping to red, Eil raising a brow as small sparks went over his hand. "That's weird… your mana reserves should be way deeper than that."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Illya asked, Eil moving his hand off her forehead.

"I have no clue… maybe it has to do with that other you that appeared… agh, dammit we still need to track her down! For all we know it's just an ego-less body that could start rampaging around!" Eil put a hand to his head, then wincing when Illya and Miyu looked at him with wide eyes. "Yeah okay worst case scenario… lets think positively here."

"Actually, what _was_ all of that?" Illya asked. "I mean… it can't just be an illusion, can it?"

"Presently, it's a bit hard to determine. It's appearance was identical to yours, but we're not sure about the interior." Miyu answered, Eil blinking at the use of "it" being in reference to the other Illya.

"While we all spaced out, it dashed, didn't it?" Illya sighed.

"It was as quick to run as you are!" Ruby quipped.

"Hey!"

"I doubt she went too far, I've had this prickling feeling down my neck ever since this morning, that, and we've lost the Archer card. I _think,_ and this is a big if, that the Card somehow became her, well, core so to say, kind of like an artificial heart… well, in the sense being of magic circuits. And with all of the dense mana the other day, she materialized… but I wonder how…" Eil's rumination brought Illya to give a hum, then she tapped a closed hand to her palm.

"Oh, right! I remember that lesson! Magic circuits, they're that pseudo-nervous system thing that's apparently part of the soul." Illya said, Miyu nodding to confirm that, Eil looking about checked out in thought.

"A Mage is born with a preset number of circuits, as well as a preset quality." Miyu said, pointing to Eil. "For example, Eil's family is known for it's members being born with incredibly high numbers of equally high quality. It's why he's so strong a magus, as he can channel a lot more mana all at once than would be possible for another. The problem though, is that if say, a magic circuit is damaged, then it can't be repaired. Even if you're the most talented, powerful magus around, your magic circuits being damaged could end that in a moment."

"That sounds scary." Illya said, tracing a finger down an arm like she was following a circuit line.

"Well anyway, we should do something about it quick!" Ruby chirped up, drawing the attention to her once more, "Regardless of its nature, we can't leave a cosplayer that looks exactly like Illya running loose."

"Yeah really!" Illya yelped, grabbing her head, "If anyone sees they'll misunderstand!"

" _But the other one has tanned skin and golden eyes… you'd have to be an idiot to think Illya suddenly got a beach tan and started wearing colored contacts. And suddenly dyed her hair bright lilac."_ Eil looked to the side, then he sighed.

"I'll go tell Taiga-sensei that Illya's alright." Miyu stood up and excused herself, Eil and Illya going quiet for a moment. They weren't sure what to say now, suddenly realizing that were alone now (kind of).

"Sooooo…." Eil murmured, glancing over when he heard shifting, Illya now patting the space on the bed beside her, her face tinted in red. "Will do."

"So uhm… what was that about my mana capacity again?" Illya asked, Eil stepping over and sitting down on the bed, the boy giving a hum.

"Well, what I did was do a quick read." Eil said, putting a hand near an eye. "And for some reasons the numbers-kaaahhhhhhhhh…."

 _Poomf_

Eil went from calmly speaking to red faced and nearly about to yell as Illya turned and pressed into his back, the _first thing_ he felt before her arms wrapped around him being that barely restrained bosom squishing down on his back.

"I-Illya?!"

"Hey… we're alone right now, so…"

"Well, I mean technically…"

"We can be quiet." Illya said, her voice barely above a whisper in Eil's ear, the boy blinking rapidly a couple of times. "Honestly I… I want to start trying to do more so…"

"More as in…" Eil murmured, than shaking his head. "No, stupid question."

"You… you've thought about it too, right?"

" _Why does her voice suddenly sound so sexy?!"_ Eil felt a sudden flash a bit, tugging at his collar. "Well… I have, yeah… so uh…"

"So we don't have to hold back, right?" Illya whispered, Eil glancing over, and he had to take a moment to try and piece together what her expression was… he did have a word, actually… hungry. A face burning red, lips steadily moving towards him, and eye staring at him in want.

Eil was starting to feel like giving in to that closing gap… only for a sudden tinge to go up his spine.

"Get down!"

"Ah!"

Illya yelped as Eil shoved her down, keeping low himself, and the two looked over when something slammed into the wall. The teenagers were stuck staring as they saw a _soccer ball_ had come out of nowhere and embedded itself into the wall, still spinning with smoke rising from it. When it did stop spinning, the ball promptly popped, a scrap of it flying right between the tiny gap between Eil and Illya's faces, Eil immediately shooting up and moving the curtain, seeing that Caren was still in her chair.

"What? Did one of her organs fall out or something?" Caren asked.

"NO!" Eil snapped. "What is wrong with you?!"

"… I think I'm gonna go home early today." Illya murmured, sitting up and giving a long sigh. She looked rather dejected now… and irritated. Very irritated.

"Ah… then go home or whatever you feel like." Caren merely sighed in a bored manner, Eil glaring at the "nurse" again. "Jeez. If you aren't feeling well at least puke up an organ."

"You have issues." Eil grumbled.

* * *

"Eil, Miyu, you didn't have to leave early too." Illya said as she and the mentioned two walked their way to her house, Miyu and Eil shaking their heads at the comment, Illya at the least not hiding she kind of was glad as she thread her fingers between Eil's own.

"No, I'm worried about you." Miyu stated, "You're more important to me than my duty to attend school, Illya."

"Your feelings are too serious sometimes." Illya sighed.

"That and I like to think a soccer ball flying at your head with enough force to make it burst is cause for concern." Eil chirped up, then blinking when he felt a chill go down his neck, feeling his danger sense going off, "Move!"

Eil grabbed Illya and pulled her out of the way as he and Miyu dodged, a large black _arrow_ embedding itself into the ground where Illya had been. Eil blinking at the fact the arrow was the same altered phantasm he himself had used during the Berserker battle when using the Archer card, and that was itself enough to clue him in as the image of that twisted grin rose back into his mind.

"What, what?!" Illya yelped, Eil not even taking a oment before he projected a sword into form, the same altered Excalibur from that battle.

"It's an attack from atop the pole!" Ruby shouted, the three looking up, a shape darting off of the pole, Illya yelping as it started throwing _blades_ at her, Eil deflecting them with a quick swipe of his sword, the attacker then landing and revealing the culprit to be exactly who Edge had guessed it to be: the dark Illya. Unlike the previous night, she'd gone and added a dark, concealing cloak over her body, a black bow peering out from within it.

"Honestly…" The dark clone murmured, standing up straight. "You're quick to run aren't you, Illya?"

"I-It's here!" Illya yelped, Eil barring his sword as Miyu ran over, about ready to attack herself.

"The dark one spoke!" Ruby gasped.

"She has a personality?" Miyu murmured, Sapphire flitting out and nodding.

"Yes, it's different than the corrupted Heroic Spirits." Sapphire observed.

"I don't think now is the time to stand around in shock." Eil stated, the clone confirming his statement by conjuring a blade and throwing it right at Illya, a bit of her hair being cut as it flew _just_ over her head, which was the white short sword of the pair Eil recognized. "So she _can_ use the Archer Card's powers."

"Wh-What?!" Illya gasped, her eyes wide.

"You dodged again." The clone sighed, "Apparently your intuition and luck are unnecessarily high. I was trying to eliminate you as naturally as possible, but I see I have no choice. I'll just kill you with my own hands!"

The clone then projected _both_ the black and white blades, dashing forward, Eil blocking the slashes and countering with his own as Illya quickly Tranced and shot into the air, Miyu following suit the two magical girls stopping as Eil kept the clone in a blade lock.

"Illya, Miyu get to the woods! We can't fight her out here in the streets!" Edge shouted, pushing the enemy's blades back and dodging the next slashes, catching up to Illya and Miyu as they moved off as he shouted the Pegasus spell.

"Why is she trying to kill me?!" Illya shouted, Ruby humming.

"Did you do something to make her hate you?" Ruby asked.

"At any rate, Eil is right, we should retreat outside of the city." Miyu stated, keeping a good pace herself, "We cannot fight here!"

"Exactly my idea." Eil muttered, looking back to see their pursuer following them from the rooftops, shouting at them as she pursued. "Oh come on!"

"She's hopping after us!" Illya yelped, "Do you think the dump truck and stuff this morning was her?"

"Well I imagine it was… though I don't know why." Ruby responded.

"Either way, she is an enemy who means us harm. We cannot leave her be." Miyu spoke.

"I concur, Miyu-sama." Sapphire nodded.

"We'll take her in the woods then!" Eil stated, already dropping into the tree line, skidding to a stop once he hit the ground, flipping his Excalibur into a reverse hold, keeping up a movement as he hopped over to where Illya landed, the girl preparing a magical shot as the clone appeared atop one of the other trees.

"Fire!" Illya shouted, but the bolt was simply deflected like it was a more thrown pebble, Illya yelping as her clone started lobbing swords at her, Eil watching as the black and white swords flew by, white and violet flames beginning to edge across his sword as he flipped it back into a proper hold.

"Don't think so!" With a swipe to the air, the flame-like energy surged across the sword, each thrown sword from the clone-Illya being countered with rapid, precise slashes. Eil was forced back a bit as he blocked one, which shot off to the side and embedded itself in a tree when he deflected it, Eil getting back into his normal stance.

"Hmm, impressive. But, I wouldn't expect anything less from you Eil. I'd be disappointed if you couldn't do at least that much!" The clone chuckled, twirling newly formed blades into her hands and jumping down from the trees.

"Yeah just keep talking. Illya, try again!" Eil said, Ruby nodding along to him.

"You held back too much Illya! Fire like you mean it!" Ruby shouted, Illya turning an readying another bolt.

"One more! Fire!" Illya attacked again, but again, the clone deflected the shot like it was nothing, the girl landing with a smirk on her face as Illya started shaking Ruby, "What? Why?!"

"Somehow your output's decreased dramatically! You've gotten really weak." Ruby stated, Eil and Miyu both gasping.

"Dammit, so that's what it was!" Eil growled, looking back to Clone Illya.

"What do you mean?" Miyu asked, the dark Illya laughing at the news.

"I see. You're weaker, Illya." The clone mocked, "But of course… after all, I'm here. So just relax… and die quickly!"

"Like hell!" Eil snapped, jumping in front of the other two and countering, the clone blinking when his sword shattered her own after they collided, Eil swiping up to follow up, the clone jumping back and reforming her own weapons.

"Ah, well of course that thing is strong than what I can make. Hehe, a human with an actual Noble Phantasm. You never stop being interesting, Eil." The clone mused, a wicked grin showing on her face as Eil glared at her, "More… show me more!"

The clone then shot forward again, Eil ducking the slashes and spinning on a hand, launching a kick that landed solidly on the girl's stomach, though he felt his foot hitting armor, then launching her upwards, and she merely chuckled as she formed her bow and fired multiple shots at Eil, who used the _Scutum_ shield to block the arrows, lowering the barrier and shooting forward, clashing blades again as the dark Illya landed, the two keeping up the combat, blades ringing with each impact of their edges.

" _I don't get it… I'm watching her fight and it's like I know those moves… it's like when I used the Archer card, except now it's just me. What the heck is going on?!"_ Eil thought, breaking his opponent's blades again, spinning around to strike again, though when he slashed, his opponent disappeared in a blink of red light.

"Eil, behind you!" Illya shouted, Eil turning to see that the other Illya had reappeared just behind him, the girl kicking him away and smack onto a tree, Eil not even getting time to recover from the blow before the girl shot forward and pinned him to the tree with the opening she got, his sword being knocked out of his grip. "Eil!"

Eil struggled against the girl as she smirked, the clone giving one push herself, and to the surprise of the other two watching, forced her lips onto Eil's, the boy's eyes wide as the forced kiss got deeper. Miyu and Illya had blank, shocked expressions from both the scene before them and the _noises_ that followed as Eil struggled while the girl keeping him pinned just kept going, spittle at both their lips as Eil barely got moments for air before the girl dove right back in again and again like a starved person finally getting a meal, and once the moment that seemed like an eternity passed, the dark Illya kept one final push on Edge before pulling back, the other two _clearly_ seeing her tongue move back into her mouth as she wiped the small lines of saliva off her mouth, Eil slumping to the ground in a heap, his eyes outright spirals as a low noise came out of his throat.

"Hmhmhm… better than I expected. Thank you very much, _darling~_." The clone chuckled, Illya having a particularly dark aura around her as she tightly clenched Ruby, feeling like _something_ inside of her clicked and then proceeded to break.

"Uh… Illya?" Miyu murmured.

"How dare you…" Illya growled, the clone turning to her with a raised brow, "How dare you steal Eil's lips! It was you wasn't it?! You're the one who killed the mood earlier today! Aghh dammit! I won't forgive you for that!"

Illya fired another bolt with a swing of her wand, the clone swatting it right back at Illya, smoke kicking up from the hit.

"It's impossible Illya. Your output's dropped to a third of what it was. You're really weak!" Ruby shouted.

"That ticks me off!" Illya grumbled, jumping away when Dark Illya jumped through the smoke and attacked, Illya dodging the blades and blocking, her eyes stuck on the edges of the lethal weapons as she held them back with Ruby, sparks flying through the air from the collision, _"S-Scary… When you see them close, blades are really scary! Wait, blades?"_

Illya then got an idea, jumping back from the clash, swinging Ruby as if swinging a sword of her own, the shot that was fired a bit thinner but otherwise still ineffective as Dark Illya blocked it.

" _No, not like that."_ Illya thought, giving it another moment of thought.

"Resisting will only make you suffer more." Dark Illya chuckled, "If you just relent, I'll kill you gently!"

" _Right… I'm not shooting a mana bullet. It needs to be thinner, and sharper, more like a blade!"_ Illya swung Ruby again, notably, her swing mimicking Eil's own methods, a glint in the air as a thin streak of mana shot forward, Dark Illya skidding to a stop from her dash to block, the air bursting as the mana blade dispersed, a tree behind the girls falling into two from a perfectly clean cut… and Dark Illya was left with shredded clothes and a broken sword, much to Illya's surprise.

"Ow!" Dark Illya muttered, holding her shoulder to cover her bouncing chest, "Not bad Illya, that was somewhat unexpected."

"Naked?!" Illya yelped, her face getting red once more, "I only cut her clothes?!"

"But it seems to be working." Ruby quipped.

"Ahh… I can't really fight like this. A shame." Dark Illya sighed, pulling whatever was left of her cloak over herself, then shrugging, "Well, in honor of your efforts, I'll let you off for today. "

"What?"

"But don't relax. If you let your guard down, I'll kill you, Onee-chan." Dark Illya chuckled, jumping off into the air, Illya throwing her arms up.

"Onee… WAIT! Don't go off into town with my face and naked!" Illya shouted, then remembering what happened _earlier,_ "EIL!"

"Now you remember!" Ruby quipped, Illya running back to where the comatose Eil was, Miyu looking him over.

"Miyu, how is he?" Illya asked, Miyu standing up.

"He's fine… just passed out. That girl was able to take mana from him by doing… _that."_ Miyu murmured.

"Huh?" Illya hummed. "Wait… so was that like a mana transfer?!"

"Probably explains why it was so… _messy."_ Ruby quipped, Illya slamming the stick into the dirt. "OWCH!"

"Quite lewd as well. No wonder Master passed out." Sapphire stated, "Considering his mana reserves, if Master had enough mana taken for him to pass out, we'd be here for a while waiting for him to recover."

"Th-Then what should we do?" Illya asked, starting to pace around. "I mean I could give him some mana myself or… well…"

"It'd be best if we at least get him back on his feet." Miyu stated, Illya still pacing around and rapidly trying to think of what to do, not even noticing when Miyu propped Eil up and straddled his lap. "I'll just transfer mana from myself to Eil. Sapphire, can you help?" Miyu asked.

"While I'm not _very_ comfortable with this idea… alright." Sapphire sighed.

"Alright, settled! I'm ready! Miyu, can you-WHAT?!" Illya went wide eyed as she turned to see that Miyu had leaned forward and kissed Eil herself, Illya frozen as she watched Miyu part Eil's lips, even more blood rushing to her head as small amounts of spittle peeked out between the lock, Illya sinking to her knees as the image burned into her mind against her will. Miyu shortly finished the task, wiping off her lips as she pulled back, Eil's eyes eventually opening again, the boy letting out a pained groan as he held his head.

"Aggh… damn, why does my head hurt so much?" Eil muttered, blinking when things became clear to him again, his face getting a bit red when he noticed that Miyu was sitting on him, "Uh… Miyu? What's…"

"The dark Illya took mana from you." Miyu stated, "You passed out from the mana drain, so I transferred enough mana back to you so you'd regain consciousness."

"Wait, so you… huh?!" Eil just titled his in confusion, his head feeling too fried to properly process what the hell was even going on.

"It was the most practical decision to make. It was… a bit messy, I will admit. But I'm glad you're awake." Miyu nodded, steam practically coming off of Eil's face as his mouth twitched, words failing to come out of his mouth.

"Ah… ahhhh…." Eil murmured, glancing past Miyu and raising a brow when he saw Illy on her hands and knees, "I-Illya?"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Illya shot up and grabbed Miyu by the shoulders, starting to shake the other girl. "Why did you do that Miyu?! I was planning to revive Eil myself! You should have waited!"

"You were taking too long." Miyu curtly said. "We can't stand around and wait with the Dark Illya running around."

"Don't be such a mage about it! Eil's my boyfriend dammit! You can't just do something like that!"

"But you kiss him all the time."

"THAT'S DIFFERENT!"

"Yeah I'm not gonna be able to defuse this." Eil sighed as he stood up, clapping his hands together with a bit of amplification to get attention on him, then coughing. "Okay, so… this is awkward. We should get moving though… we need to tell Rin and Lluvia about this… the uh, the thing about _her_ running around, not uh, what just happened."

"Then let's go." Illya stepped out of her trance, and as if making a point, grabbed Eil by his left arm and held on tight, which felt a bit awkward for him as his arm ended up pillowed in her chest. "I'm not letting that happen again darnit."

"It uh… it won't." Eil said, looking to the side. _"I am gonna have hell to pay once things calm down…"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ahh relax Eil you'll be FIIIINNNEEE. I promise and swear. Hehehehe… this'll be fun. I may have to bump up the rating on this story depending…. Hmm.**


	16. Zwei Chapter 3

Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei

 **Chapter 3: After that Archer!**

"Ugh… I'm still feeling tired after that… just how much of my mana did she freaking take?" Eil grumbled as he Illya and Miyu made their way to the Edelfelt mansion, Illya still holding tight to Eil's arm, Miyu giving a hum.

"Well it was enough for you to pass out… so likely quite a lot." Miyu said, giving a hum. "But why would she need to take mana in the first place?"

"We'll think about it later… man, they were right when they said Cancers had the worst luck today… though I'm pretty sure mine's E rank to begin with." Eil grumbled, humming when he saw the two girls looking at him curiously. "What?"

"You're a Cancer?" Illya and Miyu said at the same time, Eil nodding.

"Same here, me too." Miyu said.

"Yeah, same for me." Illya added, Eil humming.

"Well that's quite the coincidence." Eil hummed, then giving a small chuckle. "I guess we all kind of had bad luck today then huh?"

* * *

"So, we're meeting… to discuss counter measures!"

 _PAHP_

Rin slapped her hand onto the white board with crudely drawn images of both Illya's on it… though not that the others were paying a whole deal of attention. Lluvia was sipping from the tea Miyu had made, Eil was projecting and deconstructing random small objects, while Illya was marveling at the architecture of the house, seeing as she'd never been inside of it before.

"It's the first time I've seen the inside of your home, Lluvia-san. The rooms are spacious, and everything looks expensive." Illya hummed, Ruby flitting out.

"Quite the change from the estate Eil lives on huh? A Japanese mansion versus a European one." Ruby noted, then chuckling. "And one where he's living with a pretty girl too."

"Ruby, don't start." Illya had grabbed Ruby and was clenching down hard, the stick yelping in pain from the tight grip on her… again. "But still, you'd think Rin-san would be more capable, her family _are_ the magi in charge of this land after all!"

"Listen to me!" Rin yelled, slamming her hands down onto the table, then grabbing her pointer again, "Our problem is Kuro Illya. Her goal is to kill this Illya… but for some reason, she's been weakened."

"I think it has something to do with the other one's appearance. I checked earlier, and Illya's own mana reserves have dropped down sharply in capacity, she's only got about a third of what she did before. It's like the rest is with the other Illya… let's just call her Archer for now." Eil stated, _"But… there's no abnormalities in Illya herself, which is even weirder… does it have something to do with Illya herself, something she doesn't know herself? This definitely traces back to the Einzberns without a doubt."_

"Oh well, let's decide our objective." Rin took the floor again, slapping the pointer onto the white board, "With Illya's life at stake, there's only one thing to do! We're going to capture Archer Illya!"

"S-Sure, but how?" Illya asked, Rin swiping her pointer to Eil.

"Eil. That's how." Rin stated, a moment of silence passing in the room.

"NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE WHAT?!" Eil snapped, Illya shooting to her feet, that dark aura around her again.

"You can't be serious! Why make Eil do it all?! We already had the one incident and now he's gonna be the bait?!" Illya snapped, though it was clear it wasn't really the fact she doubted Eil could do it that made her mad… rather it was the fact she still had the image of Kuro forcing herself on Eil burned into her memory and her seething jealousy about the event hadn't subsided one bit.

"I'm not saying Eil is going to be bait, or that he's going to do it all. No, Eil is going to be our trump card." Rin added, Illya and Eil both raising brows, "Eil understands how the Archer Card's powers work since he used it before, and considering his own strengths, he'll be perfect for getting the upper hand against her. And despite out limited knowledge, we know what Archer Illya is after."

"That… actually makes a lot of sense when you think on it. I do know how she fights, and I've already got the leg up on her in power… what with that Excalibur I have now and all." Eil murmured the last part under his breath, Illya sitting back down as Rin nodded.

"Exactly. But, you'll have to help out a bit too, Illya." Rin added, Illya nodding, twiddling her fingers as well.

"Sure but… I've gotten weaker so I don't know if I _can_ help." Illya murmured.

"Don't worry. As you are, there are still things you can do." Rin gently spoke, though knowing the teen like the did, the younger teens didn't feel too optimistic, "At any rate, we will definitely capture this girl!"

"I'll do my best!" Illya nodded, Eil letting out a noise.

" _Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"_ Eil thought.

* * *

"And my bad feeling has been proven right…" Eil let out a sigh as he looked out at one of the trees back in the woods… of which Illya was strung up by a white cloth like a piñata, yelling out her objections as she struggled.

"It's perfect!" Rin snickered amid Eil's palm meeting his face, Miyu's deadpan, blank expression, and Lluvia however being completely on board.

"Is it really?" Sapphire hummed.

"Will this _really_ be effective?" Miyu asked.

"Luring prey with bait is a simple and effective tactic." Rin snickered. "If she wants Illya, even if she knows it's a trap, she can't ignore it."

"I want to disagree with her but she's right…" Eil grumbled, a hissing breath passing by his teeth, "But did it _have_ to involve stringing Illya up like a piñata at a birthday party?!"

"We've also included a luxurious meal as insurance!" Rin chuckled, drawing attention to the table spread _right below Illya._ "But looking at her from here how we strung her up… is Illya really almost sixteen? Those are too big for someone her size… those hips too."

"Rin your size envy is showing." Eil deadpanned, a red mark notably visible behind his bangs from the fact he'd hit his forehead one too many times now.

"It pains me to agree with your ideas, but this strategy is perfect." Lluvia chuckled.

"How are you two even regarded as potential students at the Association?" Eil sighed as Rin and Lluvia started snickering among themselves, Eil and Miyu exchanging looks that merely said "Seriously?"

"They can't honestly be this confident." Miyu whispered, Eil catching her glancing first at her chest and then her rear, the deadpan girl then just shrugging, Eil sighing again. Even Miyu was being weird at the moment it seemed.

"Sadly they are… they're smart, but at the same time they're dumb." Eil muttered, his hand hitting his forehead _again,_ though a breaking of a stick drew his attention… and revealed that Kuro had _actually showed up,_ staring at the wrangled Illya with her white sword out, looking about as confused as Edge had expected, "SHE ACTUALLY SHOWED UP?!"

And after a moment of pacing around the set up in slight confusion, Kuro let out a sigh.

"It's such an obvious trap I'm not sure how to react." Kuro hummed, Eil's head slumping as Rin and Lluvia scoffed.

"Tsk, she noticed!" Both teens growled.

"Of course she noticed!" Edge and Miyu snapped.

"Oh well. I bet you thought up some lame script huh?" Kuro chuckled, brandishing her sword, "Well then, I'll play along a bit!"

"Fish!" Rin chuckled, shooting up as Kuro jumped at Illya, "Swap the restraint target!"

The white cloth then unraveled as Rin pulled up the concealed length, Illya dropping from the strips as they released her and shot at Kuro, though the magical clone merely let out an amused hum as she was restrained, a few quick flashes and the sound of the air being cut all that was needed for her to be released.

"That fast?!" Illya gasped, already in Prisma form, Eil letting out a breath.

"Now?" Edge hummed, Lluvia stepping up next, "I suppose not."

"Sign!" Lluvia shouted, previously laid gems gleaming around Kuro before a magic circle formed, "Faust der Schwerkraft!"

The spell initiated a gravity bind, much like the one used on Berserker, but, it was only enough to again amuse Kuro as she was brought to her knees.

"A gravity-bind restraint circle? Heh, but compared to the one you used on Berserker, it's much lower in rank!" Kuro chuckled, a magic ball forming at her raised hand that she used to smash the ground, and thus, the magic circle, dust flying everywhere from the impact.

"Illya!" Rin shouted, Illya flying up and releasing a scatter of bolts, kicking up a smokescreen around Kuro as she dodged, though again, it was met by mild amusement.

"A smokescreen huh? Which means… a surprise attack." Kuro hummed, stepping back _just enough_ to dodge Miyu as she charged with a jagged dagger in hand, the Include of the Caster Card, Kuro catching Miyu's arm and keeping a vice grip, "Rule Breaker. A Noble Phantasm that destroys pacts, spells, and anything else formed by mana. That's our Miyu, going straight for my weak point."

Miyu then broke free as Sapphire reverted, stepping back with the card in hand, Kuro sighing as she placed a sword on her shoulder.

"Done already?"

" _Her power is different than the corrupted Heroic Spirits'. It feels like she's reading our every move."_ Miyu thought, Kuro sighing again.

"Honestly though if you _did_ want to take me out quickly why not just get Eil to do it? You know he's the strongest mage here. What, was he left behind after I got to him, or maybe he just didn't want to fight after that?" Kuro hummed.

"Dead wrong!"

Kuro looked up to see the shape of Eil blocking the setting sun, the girl chuckling as he drew his the Excalibur with a flash from his hand, Kuro jumping back as Eil came down with a crash, the glowing blade kicking up a smoke as Eil brought it level while Kuro brandished her blades at him.

"Hehehe, finally! I was about to get bored with this!" Kuro chuckled, Eil letting out a breath, spinning his blade and then thrusting it forward as wind kicked up around it's edge.

"Burst!" Edge snapped, Kuro blinking, then shooting back when the air burst that went past her shredded the trees in it's path.

"That's new!" Kuro landed with a slight skid, Eil dashing back over and slamming his sword down onto hers, nicking the edges of the twin blades, "Hehe, I really wanna fight you again Eil, I do, but… I don't like interlopers!"

Eil hissed as Kuro shot past him towards the others, grabbing the restraint cloth and using it to pin Rin and Lluvia to the nearest tree as they attempted to ready more spells, then getting Miyu and Illya to scatter by throwing a blade.

"Shoot!" Miyu shouted, firing blasts as Kuro gave chase to Illya, the girl letting out a scoff as she looked back.

"I'd also like to get into a shoot out with Miyu, but I can't hold back with my bow… so, Trace!"

"Did she get away?" Miyu raised a brow as any sounds suddenly stopped, but by Eil's cautious nod, she kept a wary gaze about as the smoke from her blasts then kicked up, revealing Kuro had blocked then with a giant sword that was more like a sharpened slab of stone than a blade, the girl chuckling as she charged forward, Eil stopping the move dead with his own sword, but as the slab broke into two from the stronger Phantasm hitting it, Kuro was nowhere to be seen.

"Again?!" Edge yelped, Miyu blinking and turning in time to see Kuro reappearing behind her in a flash of red, but, Eil shot over just in time to stop Kuro dead from grabbing Sapphire, "And not this time!"

"Hehe, I knew you'd be able to catch it this time. But, well, sorry Eil, I really don't want anyone interfering, so have some patience, 'kay?" Kuro quipped, winking before teleporting again, once more aiming for Miyu and grabbing Sapphire, then batting the Kaleidostick away, Miyu's trance quickly reverting, "The first weakness of a Kaleid is close combat… and the second is that if they're separated from the stick for more than thirty seconds or are separated by 50 meters, the Trance ends instantly."

"Tch." Eil scoffed, projecting and launching a blade to make Kuro move back, "We're not done!"

"Oh I'm aware of that!" Kuro chuckled, dodging Eil's blade with a twirl, "I hate to half to potentially scar that pretty face… but what's a girl to do?!"

Eil blocked with Excalibur and quickly kept on the offensive, making note of how Kuro was watching his attacks, and after a clash, the Excalibur in his hands vanished, Kuro blinking as Eil slammed his hand on the ground, a flash appearing as he brought it back up, Eil whipping out the familiar Gae Dearg, spinning the spear more like a bo staff as he attacked, the enchantment of the spear ripping right through Kuro's projected swords as if they were paper as she defended against the rapid blows.

"Tch, silly of me to forget you use more than swords _and_ can use Projection too." Kuro hissed, skidding back and to a stop after avoiding Eil's last swipe, the spear landing across Eil's shoulders with the bottom end pointed at Kuro, "Gae Dearg… it's enchantment let's the tip cut through mana. And since all of my weapons are created by Projection… tsk, great. Maybe I should bail out for today…"

"No you don't!" Illya chuckled, Kuro turning, Illya smirking as Eil shot up to Kuro, kicking the girl a bit and knocking her right into the same bottomless bog they'd found before, Kuro's eyes wide as she realized what had happened, "Hehe, sorry, but we had one last trick up our sleeve! Gotcha!"

"You faked the ground and led me here?! Tch, like this can hold me! Trace!" Kuro snapped, but the light at her hand simply faded, "What?! Why can't I…"

"Hehehe, Eil was simply leading you over here. I had to focus on hiding it though, that's why I held back." Illya chuckled, Rin and Lluvia getting free of their restraints, Eil kneeling at the lip of the bog as he dismissed the spear in his hand.

"The plan _was_ to try and capture you smoothly, and I would've used Andromeda had push come to shove, but I gotta say, kudos on making us go to our _first_ last resort." Eil hummed, Kuro looking at him with a glare left over from her shock, "But, try to remember I know _exactly_ how the Archer card works next time, 'kay?"

Kuro let out hiss at Eil getting back at her quip by giving a similar wink, Rin and Lluvia then stepping over.

"Ha, I knew it! You were using thaumaturgy to make those swords!" Rin chuckled, she and Lluvia bearing smug grins.

"Try as you might, you'll never escape from that trap." Lluvia scoffed, Kuro glaring up at the two teens with angry tears in her eyes.

"Each of the five great elements were rendered inert and molded to create that bog in perfect order. Nothing can be formed, and no thaumaturgy of any kind will activate in that bog of finality." Rin cackled, Eil starting to loom over the two.

And after all the prose, Rin and Lluvia gave way to mocking laughter, cackling at Kuro's plight… and it wasn't long into their mockery of the poor girl that Eil came in and landed a solid roundhouse kick on both that knocked them flat to the ground.

"YOU TWO DID JACK SHIT TO HELP THIS PLAN!" Eil snapped, Rin and Lluvia dazed in the dirt while Miyu and Illya just looked… miffed, "Me, Illya, and Miyu did all the work, don't get all high and mighty when you spent half the time stuck to a tree! No wonder the Association has your butts stuck here, you're about as reliable as you are useless and there's no damn inbetween!"

"Can someone get me out here?!" Kuro snapped, still sinking lower into the bog by the moment.

" _You_ are not off the hook!" Edge declared, pointing a finger right at Kuro, "After _that…_ ugh… WHAT THE HELL WAS WITH THAT?! I can't even think about it without feeling weird! Gahh, it's too damn confusing to put it since you're basically another Illya!"

"I have some words of my own I want to say about that too." Illya said, her smile not the pleasant kind, and Ruby had been converted into a blade to match the look. "Even if you are _me_ that was still a scummy line to cross!"

"HAH! Don't make me laugh Illya! If you're thinking like that, us being the same means Eil is just as much mine as he is yours! You get to kiss him all the time anyway, I just took one for myself, plus some mana on the side!"

"EHHHH?! Don't act like us having the same face entitles you to anything!"

"Can we not talk like I'm some damn prize." Eil muttered, sighing as lightning shot between the eyes of the two similar looking girls.

"Though she does have a valid point." Miyu added, "Eil, we need to get her out of the bog. As long as she's coated in its sludge she can't use magic, so we can keep her restrained."

"I have the restraining cloth ready!" Ruby chirped, whipping out a roll of black cloth from… somewhere.

"Hagh, fine." Eil grumbled, kneeling and holding out a hand, "Here… try anything funny and I'm shoving your head under till you pass out though, got it?"

Kuro took a moment and reached a hand up, though right before her hand could even _touch_ Edge's, Illya shot over and yanked her clone straight out of the bog, Ruby flying in and restraining Kuro's limbs within that instant, a silence following as Edge and Miyu stared at Illya while Kuro looked about as surprise.

"Ahem… we don't know what she could try so… well, might as well be safe. We shouldn't risk a repeat of before." Illya coughed into her hand, Eil just putting a hand to his face as he sighed again.

"Ohh? Is this about… _that?"_ Kuro chuckled.

"SHUT UP!" Illya snapped around, "I'm still holding it on you for wrecking a good mood too! Dammit I was close to getting further with Eil too!"

"Don't say that like you're bragging dammit!" Kuro snapped, though then she chuckled. "But you haven't even gone that far? Hohohooo… poor Illya was too nervous huh?"

"I said shut up!"

"CAN WE JUST TAKE HER BACK MY PLACE NOW?!" Eil yelled, Ruby humming as the four kept up the random chatter while Miyu kept a hold on Kuro.

"Hmm… seems we've gone from love triangle to a rhombus. What an exciting development to be had!" Ruby declared, thankfully _not_ having that line be noticed by the ones who'd likely go and shove _her_ into the bottomless bog in turn for saying it.

* * *

The entire magus/magical team was gathered in the locked shut shed plus magical workshop in the yard of Eil's estate, the restrained Kuro kept up on a restraining apparatus meant to keep her still, namely in a cross position and with her arms bound, though the girl seemed oddly amused by the excessive amounts of restraint being heaped on her after the bottomless bog ordeal.

"Now, let's begin the interrogation." Rin chuckled, Kuro sighing.

"Don't you think this treatment is pretty bad?" Kuro hummed, looking over her restraints, "Even if you hadn't done this, I wouldn't harm anyone. Except Illya."

"That's the problem!" Eil and Illya snapped, Rin smirking as she took the chair.

"Unfortunately, you have neither the right to an attorney, nor the right to remain silent." Rin tented her hands in front of her face, Eil cocking a brow at her. "There's too much we don't know about you. You'll answer everything for us."

"Since when were we in a film noir?" Eil quipped.

"Everything huh?" Kuro mused, one eye open, particularly trained on Eil for whatever reason as he fiddled around with a butterfly knife.

"Why don't you start by telling us your name?" Rin requested.

"My name? It's Illya. Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"By the way, you don't have the right to lie either." Rin curtly said.

"She's not…" Eil sighed. "If I had to nail it down you're sort of like a Homunculus right? Just one with a body formed purely out of mana around the Archer Card acting as a core for your Circuits."

"Ding ding! Smart as ever Eil. You're basically right. Though I guess you can't say I'm a Homunculus in the normal sense of the word. More like another self given form. Also, I haven't told a single lie." Kuro chuckled.

"I'm still not too sure, what's your objective?" Rin narrowed her eyes, the tan skinned girl looking amused by the skeptical look she was getting.

"Well, killing Illya, I guess." Kuro hummed.

"Then why don't you just hang yourself?" The serious tone Rin was using got a facepalm from Eil as he stopped fiddling with the knife, the other three looking at her with the same "seriously?" expression.

"Not me, the Illya over there." Kuro gestured with her head off to Illya, Rin sighing.

"Geez, it's getting confusing with too Illyas! Let's see… dark… Kuro! You're a dark Illya, so we'll call you Kuro!" Rin proclaimed.

"What am I a cat?" Kuro sighed.

" _Chloe sounds better if you're going to go by phonetic sound."_ Eil thought, his hand still on his head.

"So, why do you want to kill Illya?" Rin posed the question again, tapping her finger on the table, "Don't tell me it's some clichéd reason like wanting to erase the original, so you can be the true Illya."

"Wow, I'm surprised you knew." Kuro chuckled, though whether she was mocking Rin or being honest, it wasn't too clear, "Yeah, that's basically the reason why… and a thing or two involving Eil of course."

The last comment led to a moment of eyes going to Eil, the teen looking to the side with a bitter look, Illya's dark aura coming back as she growled at her other self.

"Don't ask me."

"O-kay then…" Rin murmured, "Well we kind of answered what you are, but there's more to it than just that, isn't there?"

"Getting right to the core huh?" Kuro hummed, "I think it's a bit too early for spoilers though."

"No intention of talking huh? Oh, well." Rin replied, standing up.

"Huh? I thought you were going to ask me everything?" Kuro hummed.

"Oh I will." Rin added, going to the trunk at the back of the room, "But for now, let's go ahead and create a deterrent to separate you and Illya."

Lluvia then grabbed Illya, Rin pulled out a syringe and needle, and within the next moments, Illya let out a screech as blood was rather forcibly drawn from her arm, the girl tearing up as she covered the prick, Eil petting her head as she winced from the pain.

"That was mean…" Illya whined, Eil just tapping her on the head again, Rin sighing as she pulled out a Petri dish with a few small rune stones in it.

"Relax, I only took a little blood. Magi do this all the time… some more than others depending on their craft." Rin remarked, glancing at bit at Eil to mark the statement as she filtered the taken blood into the plastic dish.

"What do you plan to do?" Kuro asked, watching as Rin approached her.

"I told you…" Rin then took a drop onto the tip of her finger, "A deterrent."

Rin then proceeded to quickly draw a rune onto Kuro's exposed midriff, Eil catching onto what was happening as Rin started chanting while forming a circle of blood, Lluvia guiding Illya's hand to the mark.

" _I get it… heh, simple, but effective choice in deterrent."_ Eil thought, a hand on his waist as he watched.

"Brand: Slaved to Shared Death!" Rin shouted, the room filling with violet light as Illya's palm touched the mark, Eil and Miyu shielding their eyes until the light died down, and once it had cleared, the mark on Kuro was sharper, clearer, like a tattoo rather than a finger drawn mark.

"A human blood seal… Maleficium?" Kuro growled, "What have you done?!"

"Slaved to Shared Death, actually a pretty simple Maleficium spell." Edge stated, softly grabbing Illya's arm, the girl confused, "Sorry about this Illya."

"What do you… OW!" Illya yelped when Eil pinched her, Kuro _also_ yelping in pain, Rin then tugging on Kuro's cheek, but only Kuro shouted in pain as Rin started doing more than just tugging and pinching on the captive girl, Kuro wincing as she was finally released, Illya blinking in surprise.

"As you've just seen, you two now share pain." Rin chuckled, "However, it only goes in one direction."

"Slaved to Shared Death is a Master/Servant type spell. Basically, when the master feels a strong sensation, usually pain, it's transmitted to the Servant, but only in that one way… so, if the Master dies, so does the Servant." Eil explained, Rin and Lluvia nodding to the statement.

"Exactly." Rin hummed, "It's a simple curse, but for that reason it's powerful."

"Yes, in other words, you are…" Lluvia chuckled, "Illyasviel's meat slave!"

WHAP!

"Not the right way to put it!" Eil snapped, Lluvia clutching the back of her head from where Eil's fist had impacted, Rin, Illya, and Miyu all nodding and bearing the same flat, shocked look.

* * *

"We'll be keeping her in the workshop for now, and with the curse, there shouldn't be a chance Illya will be attacked now." Rin filled the news on the containment in to Eil and Illya as they were now out in the open yeard, Lluvia and Miyu having since left as well. "But just in case, I'll give you both a Card… though not sure if Eil will need one."

Rin handed Illya the Lancer Card, and Eil the Saber Card, giving both the pointer finger as they took the items.

"If it comes down to it, don't hesitate to impale her or cut her in two! Hard!" Rin chuckled, Eil and Illya sighing.

"Yay, violence!" Illya muttered, Eil pocketing the card, blinking as a drop of rain hit his nose, the three quickly retreating into the house, Rin splitting off to go elsewhere, and Illya sighing as they stopped at the main walkway, "We still don't know anything about her."

"Besides what I managed to make a guess of…" Eil grumbled, Ruby flitting out.

"But it certainly seems she's a complicated character." Ruby quipped, "Maybe her hostility towards you is part of some grand scheme… but what I _really_ want to know what she had planned with Eil… perhaps more lewd things?"

"RUBY!" Illya snapped, her and Eil both getting red faced.

" _Ahem._ Either way, I'll grab an umbrella and walk you home Illya. Don't wanna get rained on right?" As Eil got up, Illya reached up and grabbed him by the sleeve. "Illya?"

"I want to stay here tonight. I mean, I don't doubt Rin and Lluvia's restrains won't keep _her_ in but… you know, just to be safe." Illya said, but in her head… _"A CHANCE! Like hell I'm missing this! We're making up for what was interrupted! I am not letting a chance like this slip by while I have it!"_

"Well, I mean I see your point but…"

"I'm staying here tonight all right?!"

"You don't have to shout! And you sound way too eager about that Illya!"

" _You have no idea Eil."_ Illya thought, giving a chuckle, Eil giving a sigh, though he had a hand behind his head as he looked a bit embarrassed.

"Well uh, I'll go get a bath running so you can wash up alright?"

"Cool!" Illya waved as Eil walked off, and then pumped her fist a few times. "Yes yes yes yes! Hehehe, Eil set it up perfectly without even realizing it! Ahh that's so adorable! I love the face he makes when he's embarrassed like that!"

"You sound like you're actually prepared for this Illya-san." Ruby said, Illya chuckling.

"I put a suitcase of some things here the last time I visited, just to be safe. I'll be well prepared after the bath, ehehehe!" Illya then froze a bit, biting her lip. "But what if I'm being too hasty?! I mean sure we've been dating for a month but…"

"Illya-san!" Ruby snapped, whacking Illya. "You are too far now! Do not lose determination because of hindsight or other silly things! Eilwyn is a red-blooded young man! He is definitely aware of your stunning physical charms without a doubt!"

"I mean I know but… no, you're right. No backing down! I'm becoming a woman tonight I swear it!"

"That's the spirit! Guts all the way!"

* * *

"Ahhh… gotta hand it to the Japanese, they always know how to make a bath right." Eil gave a satisfied sigh as he lowed the towel he was using to dry his hair down to his shoulders, the pure white locks still somewhat damp as they bobbed about with each step. "Still, Illya was acting kinda odd when she said I could go… was the bath too hot? Her face was all kinds of red."

Eil shrugged as he pulled his door opened and stepped into his room, shutting the door again, and locking it on impulse, hearing the soft click as the lock slid into place. He tossed the towel to the desk chair at the side, and started fishing around in some of the drawers.

"Hey Eil."

"Hey Illya… wait." Eil shut the drawer and turned around, seeing Illya waving at him from his bed. Then he went back to sifting through… and then he slammed the door shut and shot around. "EHHH?! Illya?!"

"Hey~." Illya waved again in a dainty manner, and Eil's face went several types of red (plus a small bit of blood dripping from his nose) as he saw how Illya was dressed.

" _That lingerie is way too daring! White, and totally see though! That's not even hiding a damn thing! Ahhh… even just her shoulders shifting a bit is making her chest bounce… they're always under clothes so you can almost never see how big they really are… I'm pretty sure the fact she's trained helps push them up… and her legs are pushing on her rear… dammit, it's plump and tight since she's so fit… and her skins still a bit wet from the bath. Her hairs hanging around really nicely too… WHAT AM I DOING?!"_ Eil wanted to scream out, resisting even though his fingers started digging into the wood of the dresser a bit.

" _Ahhhhh! I got all prepared so why am I suddenly wanting to freak out?! I took some advice online to pick this out, Sella would have lost her mind if she knew I had this! Ahhh, it's actually kind of embarrassing to wear it since the top is see through! Come on Eil, say something and don't stand there like you want to scream too! Help me keep a mood! Please!"_ Despite her attempt to keep a sultry smile on, Illya had a small twitch in her eye as she was panicking about as much. _"I at least tried to prep myself a bit in the shower, but I may have taken it too fast, my head's all frazzled because of it!"_

"Uh, w-what are you uh… d-doing in here?" Eil nearly slipped as he edged off the dresser, clearing his throat and wiping the blood off his lip. "Well uh… I mean uh… m-maybe I can guess?"

"Well… what else? Ehehe." Illya titled her head playfully, Eil gulping a bit.

"Okay so… to say it now… you might wanna grab me or else I may run off on impulse." Eil said, already edging towards the door without thinking about it… and as asked, Illya grabbed Eil as he was about to bolt and pulled him down on the bed, Eil stopping himself with an arm and ending up over Illya, the two's faces winding up dangerously close to one another's. "Uhm… th-thanks."

"Y-Yeah… hey… Eil, I was being serious earlier." Illya said, the hand gripping Eil's wrist starting to move up his arm to rest on his shoulder, her other arm doing the same so that she could wrap her arms around Eil's neck. "I want to get closer to you… not just as people. I mean… in the adult way too!"

"Illya… I don't know if…" Eil stopped as he spoke, thinking that this also kind of _was_ the situation he at times couldn't help but think about… it was actually happening. _"Dammit me be a man! Be a damn man and answer to that!"_

"Eil~ please… I feel really hot right now… I want you to make me a woman."

Eil felt like something in his mind shattered with all the force of being slammed by a rocket propelled sledgehammer as Illya looked up at him with a lust filled gaze as she said that. A silent moment passed without either side saying a word, Eil gulping a bit before nodding to himself, Illya giving a smile at him. Leaning down past the small gap, Eil took the start and kissed Illya, the girl's arms tightly wrapping around his neck to deepen it, her legs slowly starting to lock around his waist with each passing moment as the kissing intensified, Eil's attacks making Illya willfully open her lips for him, the two parting for a few seconds with their tongues remaining, but their minds were just clouded before they began again.

The room didn't have another sound but the small smacks from the two's lips, shortly joined by Illya making soft, squealing moans as Eil moved a hand up her front and to her chest, Illya's body shuddering under his fingers as they began working her. As time passed, the two stayed like that, their bodies moving without thought in ways before they finally separated, Eil leaning up on his arms while Illya kept her hold on his neck.

"Eil~… that was amazing." Illya murmured, her lidded eyes, and Eil would swear on it, bearing heart shaped pupils. "More… let's do more!"

"Lemme guess, take it gently right?" Eil asked, Illya pressing her waist against his.

"We can start that way… let's just go, it's aching. Eil~ I love you." Illya's voice was sweet for him to hear, Eil sucking in a harsh breath as he felt that sledgehammer blow hit his mind again.

"Dammit… how's is possible to be that cute and sexy at the same time?! Ahhh… damn. I love you too Illya! So… well we're both inexperienced at this but… screw it, I'm gonna shut up. Get ready!"

"Hehehe, you're always fun when you're hyped up Eil. Go ahead, I'm all yours right now!"

"Dammit it sounds right out of a VN but that's cute as hell…"

Illya giggled to it an then immediately, happily squealed as Eil went back to kissing her, the joyous sounds starting to carry off as more and more began happening between the two, Ruby right under the bed and keeping her chuckles to herself.

" _Good going Illya-san!"_ Ruby thought. _"Hmm… I wonder if this might do anything to the other Illya?"_

* * *

"Eh?!" Though still bound, at least now in a more comfortable manner that wasn't gonna leave her sore and stretched out, and the bedding was surprisingly soft, Kuro yelped when she suddenly felt something, the mark on her belly glowing a bit… and the feeling that sharply woke up was lower down, right between her legs. "What the… what's going… wait, did Illya… mmph!"

Kuroe bit her lower lip as she felt a sudden sharp pain in that area that lasted for a moment, then she let out a grumble as the warmth of pain started changing into something else… and despite the fair tan Chloe felt her cheeks get warmer, before her whole body followed suit as another kind of feeling seeped in from her lower area.

"I thought this stupid seal just transmitted pain! This is unfair… ahh, dammit Illya! Dammit! I didn't think you'd be _that_ bold!" Kuro let out a groan before yelping again, a bit of spit at her mouth. "Ahhh… is that what he feels like though? It's not perfect but… ahhh damn you Illya! I wanted that flag! I'm gonna get you for thiiiisss!"

Needless to say it was no doubt a good thing that workshop had a soundproofing enchantment on it at all times when in use… those in the house probably wouldn't be so lucky though.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well if I didn't have a reason to bump up the rating before this one sure as hell gives me a reason too! And let me restate it to be extra, absolutely and positively clear once more: All the younger characters have been aged up to more tolerable age ranges… mainly for my own sanity cause Kaleid can get weird. And let's just say if this was a VN no doubt this would've gone on, hah… but I'm trying to keep it at least a BIT safe here… Chloe's gonna be raising hell after this though. Fun times ahead for sure.**


	17. Zwei Chapter 4

_Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei_

 **Chapter 4: Normal Life Crash Down**

The morning walk to school was… quite the mood. Illya was happily holding Eil's left arm, nearly skipping with each step as she kept giggling happily. Rin looked like she'd missed a good amount of sleep and was incredibly cranky as she stood a couple of feet to the side. And Eil had an expression between awkward and wry.

"Look, again I'm uh… sorry." Eil said, looking at Rin, who just glared at him.

"It didn't cross _either_ of your minds to put up a sound canceling spell? Those things are so simple!" Rin snapped, Eil looking another way.

"It kinda didn't come to mind, no." Eil said, glancing at Illya, who seemed far too happy at the moment to so much as care about the awkward air around the small group. "I'll uh… keep that one in mind next time."

"Good, cause some people _like_ sleep." Rin grumbled, folding her arms. "Whatever… we need to keep our focus on Kuro though. The restrains should hold for now, and there is your butler to keep an eye on her. Things'll be fine. I hope."

"Ah relax. There's the Slaved to Shared Death curse on her now so we've got insurance." Eil said, his head then tilting over to one side. "But I have that weird bad feeling again…"

"Ah don't worry about it." Illya said, hugging Eil's arm tighter. "It should be smooth sailing from here right?"

* * *

Adhering to Murphy's Law, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

And wrong things did go as the Eil, Illya, and Miyu entered class, only to be immediately beseeched by three fourths of Illya's circle of friends, all very angry, and looking rather traumatized.

"ILLYA!"

"Eh?" Illya hummed, Eil lifting a brow.

"Hey you, what was that all about?!" Tatsuko snapped in a rage, Illya yelping.

"I didn't think it was true Illya, but don't tell me…" Nanaki whimpered.

"You're free to have your own sexuality, but don't force it on others!" Suzuka added.

"Says the fujoshi!" Eil snapped in return, letting out a sigh and putting a hand on his hip, "Look, the hell are you three going on about anyway? Illya just _got here_ along with me and Miyu! She spent the night at my place because of that storm!"

"Yeah… just cause of the storm." Illya chuckled, gaining a whimsical look on her face… though it didn't last under the anger of her friends rising up around her. "I didn't do anything!"

" **What did you do?!"** The three angered girls growled, "HOW DARE YOU PLAY DUMB AFTER FORCING US TO KISS YOU?!"

"Wait..." Eil muttered, his mind already connecting dots. He had been wrong to assume nobody would be dumb enough to mistake Kuro for Illya. _"I set the bar too high for these whackjobs. I was so very, very wrong to just assume things could go so smoothly."_

"Kiss… force… three… four timing?!" Miyu murmured.

"Miyu don't misundersta-Why did you go from three to four!?" Illya yelped, Eil slapping a hand over Miyu's mouth as she was _about_ to say something.

"Do not make it worse!" Eil snapped, "Look, chill alright?! Again, Illya _just got here,_ it couldn't have been her!" Eil also had a twitch in his brow at that, _"When I find that girl… how did she even get free to begin with?! Those bindings couldn't have broken!"_

As Eil was keeping the crowd back while Illya backed away, the two stopped when they bumped into their teacher, Taiga _also_ looking straightly traumatized, tears comically pouring from her eyes.

"Oh come on, not Taiga too!" Eil groaned, his hand meeting his face, "Tch… that's it! Come on, I know who's behind thi-wait… where's Mimi?"

A sudden spurt of silence followed in the crowd…

 _SLAP_

"Oh you are kidding me?!" Eil growled, bolting from the room, "Miyu, keep them from Illya!"

"Got it!" Miyu then grabbed a broom as the four victims lunged for Illya when she followed Eil, Illya looking back, "Go! I've got an idea who's behind this, and I'm sure Eil does too! He may need your help!"

"Uh… Sorry Miyu!" Illya yelped, catching up to Eil as he shot up the stairs, "Eil where are you going?!"

"The roof! Can't _believe_ they're actually that stupid!" Eil growled, Illya only confused as she followed Eil to the roof, the teen kicking the door wide open and hardly breaking stride as he skid to a stop, Illya panting behind him as Eil looked around.

"Slow… down…" Illya panted, "What are you… going on about?"

"Kuro, _that's_ what I'm on about." Eil stated, Illya flinching before hiding her face in realization, Eil sighing, "YO! KURO! I know you're up here, come on out!"

"Aww… just as I was about to have some fun~!"

Eil and Illya turned to see Kuro walk out of the corner, Illya raising a brow at the fact the tanned girl was wearing the school uniform, and behind Kuro was a dazed, about ready to pass out Mimi.

"Hehehe, points for finding me!" Kuro giggled, Eil pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a long sigh. "Though I really didn't build much up, even _after_ draining several people…"

"Y'know, I thought that since one of the Cards made up your magical core, that you could produce mana on your own. I take it I was wrong?" Eil hummed, Chloe making a ding noise.

"Correct! Which is why I like _yours_ better. You've got _a lot_ of mana packed into that body." Kuro mused, coyly bringing her fingers to her lip, Eil folding his arms.

"I pride myself on knowing about these kinds of things." Eil said, tapping himself on the forehead. "Pays to know what it is your talking about rather than always guessing."

"You _did_ figure out I need to drain mana… hmhm, you're a bit too smart for your own good." Kuro chuckled, and as Kuro drew just a _smidge_ closer to Eil, Illya's boiling anger finally snapped.

"WHY YOU!" Illya yelled, rushing over and landing a solid kick to Kuro's head, "You slanderous perverted woman!"

"HUGH!" Kuro yelped as she slammed into the fence, Eil wincing a bit as Illya shook in her anger.

"That had to hurt…" Eil murmured, checking Mimi, "Hmm, she's okay… just in shock from the sudden mana drain. Normal people aren't used to something like that… then again not like I'm one to talk."

"Oh don't drag yourself down… I'm sure you're a _great_ kisser when you can be on the attack! I was really low though, so I couldn't control myself or enjoy it." Kuro chuckled, stepping back and rubbing her face off, Illya's eyes twitching, Eil's look remaining cross.

"Wait, mana drain?" Illya muttered.

"It's the same thing she did to Eil!" Ruby clarified, "I _thought_ she was just a kiss-demon, but like Eil stated, she's been draining mana!"

"Exactly. I used up a bit too much in yesterday's combat, and that swamp didn't help much." Kuro stated, "I only got a bit from Eil sadly, a bit more and I'd have been fine… so I had to settle… but it's not as satisfying for some reason. I think it's because we have good compatibility~."

"Ohh, compatibility is it?" Illya said, her look going from angry and tense to smug, Kuro then clicking her tongue. "Fufufufu! I suppose we really are. After all, Eil and _I_ spent last night setting this relationship in stone!"

"Oh I am _well_ aware of that." Kuro grumbled, her hand going to where the curse mark was, "Turns out this mark got some weird freaking defect in it. So trust me, I _know._ It's actually how I got free. Fufufu, if I was cumming _that_ hard from transmitted feelings then I wonder…"

"Hah! Don't act like you _really_ know!" Illya scoffed, Kuro clicking her tongue again. And Eil had a hand over his eyes. He felt somewhere between horribly embarrassed and about ready to snap at _both_ of the girls. "It was good enough I passed out once or twice! All you got were transmitted things, so who _really_ wins?"

"Don't act like it's an actual win dammit!" Kuro snapped, Illya putting a hand near her mouth to complement the smug smirk on her face. "Ahhhhh! That look is so annoying! Even worse since we have the same face!"

"Well sucks for you!" Illya laughed.

"Can we stop talking about this?!" Eil snapped, jabbing a finger towards Kuro. "You! What are you even storing mana up for huh? You can't fight Illya with the Slave of Shared Death curse on you, so what's the endgame for you huh?"

"I wonder…" Kuro chuckling, shooting a particularly lascivious smile towards Eil, Illya grabbing Ruby and trancing on the spot.

"Just cut it out! Since you appeared nothing good has happened!" Illya yelled, "Eil, my friends… don't destroy my normal life further!"

"Even though you're just taking the normal life you were given?" Kuro coldly growled, Eil blinking at the statement and how Kuro looked _angry_ as she stared at Illya, light already flickering at her left hand.

"Huh? What?" Illya gasped, Kuro scoffing.

"'Everything bad is all my fault.' How nice that it's so easy to understand." Kuro's tone was the same as usual, but particular mocking and coming very close to angry, Eil stepping between her and Illya, his hand outstretched.

"Don't start anything! Honestly, a fight isn't going to solve a thing." Eil stated, _"Besides… what is she talking about? "Taking the normal life given to you"… what does mean by that?"_

"This is between us Eil, please step aside!" Kuro muttered, Eil standing firm, the tension in the air all too thick as things remained silent between the three from there… And then the tension broke apart as quick as the door slammed open again, Miyu tumbling out and ending up under a pile of Kuro's victims, Illya letting out a shriek of terror.

"I'm sorry Illya, Eil, I couldn't hold them back…" Miyu grumbled, Illya's eyes wide as she was being stared at by her friends, all of them in shock (aside from Taiga, who's face was in the pavement).

"Illya?"

"Oh here we go." Eil sighed, shaking his head as Illya was rapidly questioned… then Kuro was finally noticed.

"Wait, why are there two Illyas?!" Nanaki yelped, Eil sighing as he felt his end point hit, something _also_ feeling like it went _snap_ in his head.

"ARE YOU ALL REALLY THAT DUMB?! Look at them! Sure they have the same face but would you really believe Illya suddenly got a beach tan, dyed her hair lilac, _and_ started wearing color contacts?! Seriously what is this, a comedy skit?! They only look alike by their facial features! Even their hairstyles have a different part to them!" Eil snapped, the bomb that was the logic of common sense making the three shocked girls and teacher fall silent… only for their noses to erupt into fountains of blood, "EHHHH?!"

"Illya, you need to find smarter friends." Miyu remarked.

"Whoa! Eil dropped logic on them so quickly their minds couldn't handle it!" Ruby whistled to show that she was impressed by the feat, Eil's lip, eye, and fingers twitching from the sudden incident, though Taiga was the one to get up.

"There's no way there can be two Illya-chans, one has to be an outsider! Explain!" Taiga snapped.

"I JUST DID… kind of." Eil murmured, Miyu turning to Sapphire.

"Sapphire can you erase memories?" Miyu inquired.

"Yes but I don't suggest it." Sapphire responded, Illya continuing to panic, flipping between shaking Eil's arm and panicking near Miyu.

"What do I do? What do I do?!" Illya yelped, Eil pulling a hand down his face.

"Ahem." Everyone turned when Kuro cleared her throat, the girl giving a pleasant smile, "Everyone, I'm sorry for the commotion. I am… Chloe von Einzbern, Illya's cousin!"

"Weird… that was the name I thought of…" Eil hummed, while Kuro, or rather, Chloe, shot him a grin as if she _knew,_ and Illya was wide eyed and slack jawed in shock.

"I plan to transfer here next week, so I thought I'd get a look at the school." Chloe explained, "But it seems my greetings were too extreme for Japan. I'm sorry, everyone."

"HUH?!" Illya yelped.

"Well she's not wrong. In some European cultures a kiss is just another form of greeting." Eil stated, and despite his passive expression, his eyes told that he was mulling on something. _"What was she talking about earlier? Does it have to do with the Einzbern's themselves? Either or… there's got to be a reason behind it… and I have this feeling we're going to find out real soon."_

* * *

 _ **The next day**_

The walk to school was quiet from all but Chloe's cheerful humming, Eil, Illya, and Miyu all staring daggers into the back of her head, though Miyu was as neutral looking as ever, while Eil was just wary looking. Illya's glare also came with her keeping a tight hold on Eil's arm like she was being damn sure to be a bulwark against her "cousin."

"I don't understand how this happened." Illya sighed, Eil folding his arms.

"I believe it started _after_ last week's… incident." Eil muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

* * *

 _ **Afternoon after the "incident"**_

"What's going on?! How did the bindings break because of… well, things I can't say out loud in front of this many people! Now my school life is all messed up!" Illya slammed her hands down onto the table, the group at Lluvia's place once more, Lluvia a bit of confusion to Illya's statement.

"Illya, calm down!" Miyu cautioned, Eil messing with his butterfly knife again with a pensive expression on his face.

"The bindings were made to counter magical attempts to get rid of them." Eil said, giving a sigh as an eye traced over to look at Chloe, who was munching away at some cake. "I suppose the, _ahem,_ things that happened strained them too much and they snapped."

"Y-Yeah… I suppose that could do it." Illya murmured, feeling equal measures of embarrassed and warm as she thought about the previous night, Chloe shooting her other self a glare.

"What?" Lluvia asked, raising a brow as she looked between her juniors.

"Today, Kuro showed up at school." Miyu curtly explained, Lluvia's eyes widening a bit, "She called herself Illya's cousin, and said she'll be transferring in next week."

"A-also… she went around kissing all my friends!" Illya's lament was punctuated by her head being on the table, a _clack_ sounding as Eil stopped toying with the knife in his hand, pocketing it.

"And she picked out a name for herself. Chloe von Einzbern… well, least we don't have to refer to her like she's a cat." Edge murmured, Illya's head shooting right up.

"Why are you so calm?!" Illya yelped, Eil just blinking.

"What? It's only proper to use an actual name, so why not?" Eil responded, Lluvia sighing.

"My goodness. Our physical and magical locks on your workshop were perfect. Not even a single ant could have gotten past." Lluvia stated, Eil narrowing his look at her.

"Obviously it _didn't work."_ Eil grumbled, Lluvia shooting him a glare.

"Quiet! I'd like to know myself why she got past!" Lluvia spat, regaining her composure, "However tightly we locked her up, that girl broke free with ease. How did she…"

"There's no need to lock me up in the first place, is there?" Chloe then spoke up herself, all eyes turning to look right at her. "Why are you going out of your way to lock me up?" she inquired, her hand hovering over her belly, "Thanks to this, I can't lay a hand on Ilya anymore. And it isn't like I want to hurt anyone. I just want to live a normal life, attending school like a normal fifteen-year-old girl. Is that too much to grant me?"

"Nghnghngh… how dare you spout such drivel?!" Illya growled.

"Illya, you're talking funny." Miyu pointed out, Eil giving a weird look at the sudden change in speech pattern.

"Ugh… I don't see why _not."_ Eil muttered, leaning on a hand. "Of course we'd have to figure out accommodations of some kind. I'm not risking her staying at _my_ place… _plus I'm not risking the potential property damage."_ a part muttered under his breath and as quietly as possible. "But it's not like that much can't be done if it'll keep you complacent. Obviously though there'll be conditions. Lluvia?"

"Then allow me." Lluvia said, clearing her throat. "You are not to leave this mansion without permission or unless one of us accompanies you. You are not to harm others, and you are to act as Illya's cousin at all times. If you can uphold these promises, we can grant you your wish."

"Of course." Chloe chuckled, "As long as it means I can go to school."

"Lluvia, why?!" Illya gasped, Lluvia leaning down to Illya's ear.

"It's a form of negotiation." Lluvia stated, "This way, she won't do anything else that puts civilians in danger. And I know the status between you and Eilwyin, but she's latched to him for some reason, so it's probably best if he keeps an eye on her as well, as at the least she actually seems to listen to him. At least for now."

"I understand why you're saying it, but it doesn't mean I'm okay with it." Illya muttered, Lluvia then chuckling.

"Relax. Wouldn't it also mean you have more reason to visit Eilwyn as well? If she gets out again perhaps she'd run there first. It'd be best if you were there frequently then, right?" Lluvia said, Illya's face going a bit red.

"Alright, I'm fine with this!" Illya said, pumping a fist, Eil again bringing a hand up to his eyes.

"Lluvia don't put weird thoughts into my girlfriend's head _please."_ Eil sighed, pulling his hand down, catching the look Chloe was giving Illya and then him. It was both despondent and jealous… like somebody looking at something they wanted to be in the place of instead. _"And there's still the things she said before as well… damn, the mystery about what happened to the Einzberns suddenly feels so close but so far… but I doubt Chloe would know anything about that… wait… what about their parents then? I'm not all for the idea of confronting the Magus Killer about something, but I need answers to this."_

"Auguste!" Lluvia called out, her butler immediately responding to the summons, "Fabricate a family register, and complete the transfer paperwork. Same as you did for Miyu."

"As you wish. Everything will be completed within fourteen hours." Auguste responded and gave a bow.

"What's with this illegal sounding conversation?!" Illya yelped.

"Magi do stuff like this all the time. Forged passports, fake IDs, so on so forth. Keeping one's identity secret when traveling or entering an unknown area is important for a Magus… besides, stuff like that is easy to do when you've got enough money." Eil casually stated, Illya yelping again.

"Are you speaking from experience?!" Illya yelped, Eil reaching into his bag and flashing _four_ different passports, "WHAT?!"

"Official passport, and three fakes I use if needed." Eil stated, storing the items just as quickly as he'd drawn them out.

"Uhhh, now I'm worried! You shouldn't do illegal things!" Illya said, a scolding tone in her voice, Eil's eyes just narrowing at her, Illya starting to back down. "Ehehe… s-sorry… magus. You all do things differently."

* * *

 _ **Present/Classroom**_

"And now we're here…" Eil muttered, _"The past week hasn't had many problems in it so far.. sure Chloe snuck over to my place a couple of times but it really has been smooth sailing up to now… though Illya made a point to visit every day. And we did_ things _when she did… she's getting better with each time… ach, no, not now!... also why do I feel like Illya maybe has a small liking of the fact she knows when we do it, Chloe also has to deal with it?"_

Eil sighed for what had to be maybe the twentieth time that morning, Miyu and Illya turning to him.

"I take it dealing with her for a week has been difficult?" Miyu asked.

"Not really now." Eil glanced to Illya, who was doodling on her notebook. "I'm more worried about when Chloe's going to need to recharge on mana. Let's hope she at least regulates mana efficiently when not using it to fight." Eil grumbled, leaning on the desk, glancing at the now _conveniently_ empty chair to his right, _"I swear someone sat here before…"_

"Besides, even if she goes to the same school, we'll be fine if she's in a different class!" Illya declared, Eil and Miyu looking at each other and then to the empty seat, "Come to think of it, both of you just transferred to our class."

"Uhm, Illya…" Miyu murmured.

"Illya don't jinx it. This stopped being a magical girl deconstruction since… never, actually. We're totally a visual novel based story." Eil rattled off, his mind suddenly drawing a blank, "Wait what?"

"What?" Miyu and Illya asked, the three suddenly forgetting that sentence, much less that previous moment.

"There's no way transfer students would join the same class after each other… AGAIN!" Illya declared, Eil sighing in response, Tatsuko showing up and stopping at the empty desk.

"Oh? Whose seat is this? Are we getting another transfer student again?" Tatsuko asked, completely unaware of Illya's now wavering smile.

"Plus, there could always be a mistake in the transfer papers!" Illya muttered, Eil and Miyu nodding in agreement that Illya was clearly in denial.

And, for better or worse, the convenience proved truthful, as Chloe indeed was the one to enter the classroom.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Chloe von Einzbern, but, you can call me Kuro!" Chloe introduced, Illya's expression flat as the other students starting murmuring, particular about the two girls' dead ringer resemblance (for the most part anyway).

"This is Illya's cousin." Taiga stated, swaying like a dumbstruck schoolgirl… only to immediately get pegged by a book courtesy of a visibly annoyed Eil.

"ACT NORMAL!" Eil shouted, sitting back down as Taiga recovered from the blow, which also seemed to work at snapping her back to normal (though the possibility of Eil escaping some kind of future punishment was surely impossible), Chloe walking past the others and taking her seat.

"Hmhm, I hope we can be friends." Chloe chuckled, though her pleasant expression bore that undertones to it, the magus trio all giving similarly suspicious looks.

* * *

"Okay why the heck am I the ref?" Eil's hand met his face again as he looked over the two teams in the yard… to his right, Illya, Miyu, and Chloe, and across from them, Shizuka, Tatsuko, and Nanaki, Mimi on the sidelines standing next to Eil.

"Because you're the only boy!" Shizuka declared.

"Even if you look like a girl!" Tatsuko shouted.

"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A GIRL!" Eil snapped in reply.

"Hmm, I was wondering what it'd be, but dodgeball huh?" Chloe mused, Ilya hanging her head.

"Why me too?" Illya lamented.

"Shut up! If she's your cousin, you're an accomplice!" Tatsuko declared.

"Well, Miyu's just here to even out the teams." Nanaki added, Shizuka stepping forward.

"Team Chloe vs. Team Stolen First Kiss!" Shizuka shouted, Eil letting out a weird chuckle. "One-round match!"

"Know what, never mind, I'm glad I'm the ref." Eil kept chuckling, Mimi looking at him with a concerned, somewhat scared look.

"The losers become the underlings of the winners! So long as it doesn't violate public order and morals, any command will be absolute!" Shizuka stated the stakes of the match, yet another audible _slap_ sounding in the direction of Eil. "Do you understand?"

"Is now the time for a Jojo reference?!" Eil snapped, Shizuka yelping.

"You caught that?!"

"Of course I did!"

"Underling huh? What would you order me to do?" Chloe hummed, fiddling with her side tail.

"Give me the pudding in your lunch!" Tatsuko declared.

"Let me copy your homework!" Nanaki shouted.

"Serve as the funnel for the Summerket." Suzuka had a dark aura around her.

"Wait, what's with that Suzuka?!" Illya gasped, Eil sighing once more.

"Oh, why not?" Chloe mused, brushing her hair back a bit, "In exchange, if I win…"

"I'll give you my pudding!" Tatsuko.

"I'll do my homework myself!" Nanaki.

"I'll serve as funnel at-"

"The winning team gets the Ref to spend personal time with them!" Chloe declared, a moment passing.

"Why am I the betting chip?!" Eil shouted.

"I OBJECT!" Illya snapped.

"Oh, and you three will have to kiss me once a day." Chloe added, the opposing team gasping, though one could tell _that_ was more or less just to mess with the three girls.

"HEY! Don't just drop the first subject! I am a human being dammit, not an item to be bet upon!" Eil snapped, "I refuse to be used as a prize! And you three! No team intros! We know who you are!"

Team Stolen First Kiss immediately stopped in the performance they were starting, freezing mid pose as Edge glared them down, and almost as if on cue to the canceled intros, Taiga showed up, taking the field and giving an impassioned yell.

"Team Stolen First Kiss Member #4, Taiga Fujimura, is joining this match damn you!"

"Can we just get this shit over with?!" Eil snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose, _then_ noticing the oddly _dark_ feeling in the air, "What the…"

It was like a sight out of an anime when the enemy is revealed as evil emanates from them, except that the subject was Illya, the pale haired girl standing stock still but emanating this dark aura from around her.

"Let's just get this started! I'm winning this!" Illya declared, Eil's eyes blanking out as it seemed any coloring he had just failed as Illya gritted her teeth, "Like hell I'm standing aside with what's on the line."

"Holy crap." Chloe whistled, "Once her switch gets flipped, I think Illya's desires are even more intense than mine."

"What does _that_ mean?" Miyu asked, Eil coughing into his hand as his face went red.

"Uggghh… Mimi… please just call the match to start… I can't take this madness." Eil handed the whistle off to Mimi, the normally presence-less girl nodding as she blew it.

"Now, start the match!" Mimi declared, "Team First Kiss will start with the ball!"

"You shortened it?!" Suzuka yelped.

"JUST PLAY BALL DAMMIT!" Eil yelled.

"Victory to the swiftest!" Tatsuko yelled, and despite the built up, her throw towards Illya was horribly weak… though Illya just let it bounce off of her, the twee of the whistle sounding.

"Illya, out!" Mimi declared, Chloe yelping.

"What the?! What are you doing going out so easily?!" Chloe snapped, Illya putting a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"I don't have a reason to win here… well, under other circumstances I wouldn't. But I have a plan so _go with it._ We'll settle this between ourselves later. Lose, and I will hurt you!" Illya stated, Eil raising a brow.

"Did Illya have a personality shift or something? She's acting… decidedly scary." Eil murmured, something about the way Illya was suddenly acting ticking something in the back of his head for some reason as Illya walked off of the field.

"That was odd, but whatever. Even without you…" Chloe hummed, picking up the ball and bouncing it in her hand for a moment, smirking and then lobbing it _hard,_ nailing Taiga dead in the face and sending the teacher _flying_ back with blood spewing from her nose. "I can win by myself."

"That was just brutal." Eil murmured, a crowd gathering around their now comatose teacher, Mimi blowing the whistle again.

"Sensei, out. Please move outside the field." Mimi calmly declared.

"You're surprisingly calm Mimi!" Nanaki yelped, the kids then watching as Taiga was pulled off the field via stretcher, Eil letting out a small sigh again.

"This is just gonna get worse isn't it?" Eil murmured, the next to fall by Chloe's deadly throwing arm being Tatsuko after another pitiful throw, though she was saved from an out by Shizuka catching the following pop fly, and in the ensuing continuation, it was clear that Chloe was enjoying herself all throughout, it being less a match now and more Chloe taking the blinding lead, "Now what the heck did Illya mean earlier when she said she had some kind of plan?"

Eil mulled over that for a moment, keeping an eye towards Illya as she watched, though he could faintly see Ruby drifting out and begin to say something, his eyes going back to the game when Suzuka was sent out, leaving only Tatsuko to stand against Chloe.

"Damn it! Why are all the girls in our class with katakana last names so strong?!" Suzuka lamented.

"Oh no, the only one left on the field is Tattsun!" Nanaki gasped.

"Only the heir to the Gakumazawa dojo's Gakumazawa-style martial arts?"

"Only the weak Tattsun who tried to learn martial arts by mimicry, but had no talent for it?!"

"Why all the unnecessary personal information?" Miyu commented, Eil pinching the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

"Ugh… it's almost kinda sad." Eil murmured, raising a brow when Illya stepped in front of Tatsuko when the short blonde charged, stopping her with an outstretched arm.

"Player rotation. I'll fight in Tatsuko's stead." Illya stated, a small smirk of her own showing, "That's fine, right?"

"Hmm? Is _this_ what you were planning? Ha, rather high handed of you." Chloe scoffed, "But that's fine… it means more underlings, and that I get Eil to myself."

"I did not agree to be the damned prize!" Eil objected.

"It's a one-on-one match." Illya seemingly ignored Eil's objection, continuing with her former stride, "If I lose, you can do as you wish. But, if you lose… you're leaving this school, and staying well away from Eil!"

"Why am _I_ part of this conflict? Honestly, _why me?"_ Eil hissed, the small gathering of those who were eliminated gasping.

"Th-This is turning into a really serious match!" The peanut gallery gasped.

"Illya, uhm…" Miyu approached Illya, the white haired girl raising a hand.

"I'm sorry Miyu. Step back for a while, okay?" Illya spoke, Miyu taking a moment longer before moving to where Eil and Mimi stood. "Is this a good idea?"

"Not in the slightest." Eil bluntly responded, noting Ruby showing up again, "Why do I feel like this is partially Ruby's idea?"

The air then burst as Illya chucked the ball hard enough to make Chloe skid back a bit, Eil and Miyu noticing the sudden appearance of the pink feathers that marked Illya's Trance the moment before, Eil and Miyu both letting out small noises, sensing the impending chaos.

"I won't let you say it's cheating." Illya muttered, Chloe raising a brow, "After all, your existence itself is practically against the rules."

"That's pretty bold of you." Chloe remarked, "All right. I won't hold back either. I'll send you flying!"

And thus began what could only be described as the generation of a death zone as Illya and Chloe continually shot the ball (which was somehow withstanding the sheer force it was being put under) back and forth at speeds faster than the non-magically inclined could properly keep track of.

"I _would_ stop this… but my survival instincts are saying otherwise." Eil muttered, a hand over his eyes.

"Every single time, you always get in my way. I don't even understand you!" Illya's shouting caught Eil's attention, the boy deciding to tune in to get an idea for himself what was going on… hopefully.

"How dare you say that when you haven't ever tried to understand me?!" Chloe retorted, "You're throwing a tantrum like a child!"

"We're still just teenagers! Quit acting like you're _so_ much more mature than any of us!" Illya spat back, Chloe scoffing in response.

"You really are immature. Even with the kind of progress you made with Eil, you're still acting out like this huh? It's like you just do it with him to get something over me, like a petty little kid! That's just sad, Illya!" Chloe's next throw was caught hard, Illya growling as she skid back.

"Sh-Shut up… Shut up!" Illya shouted, rearing back for another lob, "You're just my fake!"

"A fake, huh?" Chloe muttered, Eil catching how she'd fallen silent and clenched a fist as the ball came careening towards her, "I wonder which of us that is!"

Chloe returned the ball by straightly punching it, Illya yelping as it came right back and slammed her dead in the face, Illya falling back with blood spewing from her nostrils, out cold as she hit the dirt.

"ILLYA!" The others yelped, Eil looking to Chloe as the girl lurched over, blood dripping from her nose.

"Ugh… I forgot… we share pain." Chloe realized it too late as she herself passed out, Eil letting out a breath as the whistle was blown, the others grabbing the unconscious girls and immediately running off, Eil glancing back to see Caren watching from the window of the infirmary, the young woman turning away as she noticed Eil looking right at her.

"And time to deal with her again." Eil murmured, following after the running crowd, tugging at the wrappings on his arm as he mulled over things, _"This is all just so absurd… but, I wonder what's really going on. Chloe heard "fake" and reacted so angrily. So just what the heck is going on here? Heck, the biggest question is the fact Illya isn't aware what the Einzberns_ are… _this definitely has something to do with them… and if it has to do with the Einzberns, does it mean this has some link to the old Grail Wars?"_

Eil rubbed his arm as those thoughts rose up. The Grail War was something that hadn't been held in over two decades by this point, and while the Einzbern's were a reclusive family, Eil was well aware of their involvement in the ritual. It was the reason he'd been born after all. A mage born with the power to fight, and win such an event.

"Whatever… I'm probably just overthinking things." Eil sighed, pocketing his hands, stopping when he passed Chloe, the girl stopping herself.

"Illya is fine if you want to know. Not like it was anything serious." Chloe stated.

"It's not Illya I'm worried about. Well… okay of course I am." Eil murmured, "Chloe, I'm not sure if I'm overthinking this, but is there any particular reason you reacted like you did to being called a fake?"

"What makes you say that?" Chloe asked, Eil catching her hands fighting their grip around her arms, bunching the cloth of her uniform.

"You know well enough I'm aware of the exact nature of the Einzbern family. It's bothered me for a bit, why Illya was unaware of her magical abilities. I'm still trying to piece all of this together, have been for almost two months now. So, let me ask this: That was you, during the fight with Saber, wasn't it?" Eil inquired, Chloe blinking, turning and seeing how Eil was leaning on the wall.

"If it was?"

"Then it begs the question, have you _always_ been around?" Eil inquired, Chloe tilting her head. "I don't think any of us are ever going to figure out why you appeared, so I'll ask… have you always been around, dormant inside Illya's mind until recently?"

"Again… what makes you ask that?"

"Chloe, I was _bred_ to be as strong as I am. Everything about my birth was meant for one sole purpose: Hunting down things even other Magi don't know exist, but also, to fight in a Grail War and keep things in it under control. But then, ten years ago, on the verge of the 4th Heaven's Feel ritual to begin the Grail War anew, suddenly, the Einzbern family, who oversaw the ritual, went quiet, and not a word has come from them since. My mom was meant to be the secret oversee of that war, and she was well acquainted with the Einzberns at the time." Eil explained, "And then by sheer chance, when I got sent here by Master Zelretch to watch after _those_ two idiots, I met Illya, an Einzbern. So, I think you can make some sense out of my confusion about all of this."

"Look, I don't get much of this myself. I just want to live a normal life, and be a normal girl. Nothing more."

"Chloe, neither of us are normal." Eil muttered, "And you know it. "Normal" isn't something those of us who can and _do_ use magic are allowed to have."

"We'll have to see." Chloe muttered, continuing on her way, Eil letting out a sigh and continuing on his way until he reached the infirmary, thankfully for now empty of all but Caren and the still sleeping Illya.

"Hmm? Oh, you." Caren murmured, swiveling in her chair, "What do you want? Here to see the girl?"

"No… it's not Illya I'm here to see." Eil stated, Caren letting out a hum, "Been a while Caren. What are you still doing here in town? I thought you left after we gathered all the Cards."

"Well I feel touched you want to see _me_ again. It's not that big of a deal, don't worry about it." Caren said, Eil lifting a brow and then leaning on the desk, Caren giving a sigh. "You're not gonna take no for an answer are you? Why not just believe I got hired to work here hm?"

"Really? Because I don't see why a 16-year-old girl with an obvious sadistic streak would be hired as a school nurse for normal reasons." Eil stated, Caren sighing. "So just be cut and dry with me, capiche? It'll save us both a hassle.

"You're going to be persistent about this, aren't you?" Caren inquired, Eil's steely gaze answering for her, "Of course. You Zvezdas are always poking your noses into things. It's almost legendary how your family has wrecked so many plans, on purpose or on accident."

"It's one of our better traits." Eil added.

"I beg to differ." Caren sighed, "But as for why I'm still around and watching things, I suppose we can say your job isn't done yet."

"What?" Eil muttered, flinching when Caren reached around and plucked the Saber card out of his back pocket. "HEY!"

"As it turns out, there's not just seven of these fancy Cards." Caren turned the Card over a few times in her fingers, looking dead at it. "There's an eighth Card somewhere around here. We just don't know where it is yet… And I like you, so I'll warn you: The Association's finally done scrambling about after your mentor took charge of this. They'll be making a move soon."

"Give me that." Eil muttered, swiping the Card back. "I figured it was only a matter of time. Those stubborn fools hate having someone get in their way. If I had to guess, they'll be sending an Enforcer… McRemitz most likely. She's who got the Lancer and Archer Cards."

"Wow, you really are smart." Caren noted, giving a hum as she stuck a sucker in her mouth. "Consider that a freebie. If you want more information from me, then pay up. I'll keep quiet about your real identity too. So be sure not to tell your friends who I am, alright?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll stay quiet." Eil muttered

"Though I am curious about something." Caren said, Eil stopping as he was leaving and looking back at her. "Zvezda, you have any clue why those two girls had similar bruises?"

"Nope. Not a one." Eil stated, leaving, Caren humming.

"Hmm… eh, I won't bother adding that… to much trouble."

"Let's leave it there." Eil left the room and gave a sigh, one hand balling into a fist. "The Association will be making a move though huh? Damn… and that means Illya and Miyu are gonna wind up getting drawn into this fight." Eil drew out the Saber Card, staring at it. "Saber, when the time comes, let me use your power, alright? Let me beat back that Enforcer so I can protect my friends… please."

He didn't expect anything. He just felt the need to say something right now… but for a moment, he could swear the Card shimmered. When it did, Eil chuckled a bit, a smile coming to his face.

"So, I guess you can hear me. Good to know."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'm about reaching the point where I can't just copy-paste through bulks of this, but hey that's where the fun really begins I would say. Heheheh. And oh do I love foreshadowing and building up to things. Always, always fun!**


	18. Zwei Chapter 5

_Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei_

 **Chapter 5: So in other words…**

"Alright, so, so that rather than anyone doing anything dumb, we're gonna start training together here!" Eil was standing atop a wooden platform and looking down at Illya and Miyu. Stretched in front of the bunch now was an obstacle course and range space. The purpose? Furthered training of course. A course for magical training would serve much better than say, flinging spells around in one's backyard. Along with the functions of the course, a barrier was set up to hide it from view of anybody who would try and take a look in at what was happening.

"Eil, what's the reason for this course?" MIyu asked, Eil sighing, his head hanging.

"Training, Miyu. I just said that much." Eil sat down on the edge of the platform, leaning on a hand. "I figured it'd be best if he had a space to practice in besides my backyard and dojo. Illya, since your mana supply took such a sharp hit after Chloe's… let's call it formation or something, we're going to need to train you back up a bit."

"Well you're not wrong there." Illya said. "And I guess here is better than, well… what I was _planning_ to do."

"Illya was gonna practice in her yard. As small as it is." Ruby said, getting whacked by her Master the instant she spoke such things.

"No, no, Ruby's right. That yard is too small for proper practice magic." Eil said, Illya twirling part of her hair. "Wouldn't want to accidentally bust a wall. NOW! I say to get started, Illya, how about you show us that move you used against Chloe during that last fight?"

"Oh, the Schneiden? Sure."

The three moved to the range with targets in it, Illya Trancing and holding Ruby to her side. With a swing of the stick, a thing spread of mana shot out from Ruby's top, rushing to the target and crashing into it. Opposed to the full destruction of a normal blast, the target was cleanly cut across the contact line, falling to the ground in clean cut parts.

"Well that's better than making a person's clothes blow up." Miyu said, Illya cocking her head.

"Don't remind me of that!" Illya whined, adjusting her grip on Ruby. "At the least, it does work. I mean, it's like physics you know? Focus a lot of energy into a small point and it's force gets a lot bigger than it would be otherwise. So, even if I can't use as much power as I did before, I figured if I just use attacks like this or smaller blasts with more focus, I can at least cover the gap a bit."

"It's not a bad idea. After all, thaumaturgy is fundamentally founded in physics to a degree. Not exactly, but it can be used to some effect depending on the use." Eil said, producing a spear and twirling it into a hold. He took a moment to aim, and a blue glow edged across the spear. With a yell, Eil thrust the spear forward, the bolt of mana shooting out and piercing the target he was aiming for, going right through with ease, but doing little damage otherwise. "

"Yeah…" Illya murmured.

"Though there is another thing you could do. Can I see Ruby for a second?" Eil dismissed the spear, and Illya handed the stick over to him, Eil swiping Ruby to the side. As he did, the stick shrunk down, the grip shortening from a small staff to a two-handed grip, and from Ruby's top sprung a meter-long blade, Illya's eyes going wide as she saw the shift. "Having Ruby be a physical weapon could work out well for you too."

"Ehhhh. Master Eil I don't like this form! A magical girl's weapon should be a wand!" Ruby whined, Eil jabbing the blade into the ground. "Don't push me into the dirt!"

"You should drop the whole pretense with the magical girl nonsense. This is about helping Illya fight with her lowered mana cap, _not_ your aesthetics." Eil muttered, picking Ruby up and returning her to the wand form, handing her back to Illya. "Try it yourself and see. Aim for a blade of that size, and not the short blade Rin used when we fought Saber."

"Nooo! Don't listen to him Illya! This weapons fanatic doesn't understand the needs of a Magical Girl!"

"… Actually how about you hand her back to me so I can tear her apart?!" The cracking of Eil's knuckles permeated the air as he loomed over the stick with glowing eyes, Ruby wobbling around in a panic as the aura around Eil grew darker by the second.

"Sister, it is rude of you to go against Master's wishes like that." Sapphire stated. "He is also correct. Such a form would benefit Illya more than it would hamper her."

"Sapphire at least take my side sometimes!" Ruby whined, yelping when her rod shrunk. While the blade that sprouted wasn't as long as the one Eil had produced, she had managed one that was at least two feet long. "Not again!"

"Hmm… well I guess it would work." Illya murmured, giving the blade a couple of test swings.

"Well you're also smaller than me too." Eil remarked, a flash from his hand producing the Excalibur copy he had used against Berserker. For him, the sword's total length only just passed his waist, but when next to Illya, the size was such it reached her chest by the end of the hilt. "A sword should be used based on the size of the person. What could be a longsword for one would be a claymore for another."

"Well the visual aid helps." Illya remarked, staring at the sword as Eil set it across his shoulders. "By the way, what's the deal with that sword anyway? I mean, it's the same as what the Saber Card uses, kind of. Why were you able to make that?"

"That's a question I have as well." Miyu added. "It's far too powerful to just be another projection either… what did you call it again?"

"Excalibur Faker." Eil said, running his fingers along the blade's flat, tracing the glowing lines along it as he did. "Something… happened when we were fighting Berserker. Something talked to me… and, well, after it did, this appeared. I still don't really get it all, honestly. I just know it has something to do with my family and how we are."

"Odd." Miyu noted, Eil nodding as he dismissed the sword in a shimmer of blue light. "Now, what shall we do next for training today?"

"I wanted to try developing another new attack!" Illya said, Miyu and Eil moving as she carelessly swung Ruby around, the stick _still_ in the form of a sword. "You know, something to work with the Schneiden."

"Well if that's the case then I guess I'll have to start instructing you in swordplay as well." Eil flicked his hand and produced a more typical looking sword, smirking as Illya felt a sudden chill up her spine. "Ah don't look scared about it Illya. I'm just a bit of a harsh trainer is all."

"Eil you saying it like that doesn't make me feel any better!" Illya shouted, Eil snickering playfully. "Don't mess with me darn it! I'll pay you back tonight if you keep it up!"

"Don't threaten me with a good time." Eil responded, Illya's face popping to red in an instant. "So, let's get on with the training why don't we?"

"Sounds better than listening to you two flirt." Miyu responded, Eil and Illya looking at her in surprise from that dry remark. "What? I've been paying attention to the way Eil responds to things. That's what you call being a tsukkomi right?"

"M-Miyu, I don't think you should take a page from Eil's book." Illya said, Eil looking at her with an offended look.

"Oh come on Illya!"

* * *

The soft shifting of water sounded through the _very_ large bath of the Edelfelt estate. The only occupant currently was Eil, having taken to the place after Illya and Miyu had taken a turn. The room was, in short, massive, the bath itself more like a large, shallow pool. A central fountain constantly pooled water into it, and the warm, amber colored stonework gave a welcome vibe to the steam filled room.

"Hmm… I'm definitely gonna need to start thinking on ways to help both of them particularly." Eil sunk a bit lower in the water as he hummed, causing the longer portions of his hair, which he'd neglected to cut for while now so the length had extended to just past his shoulders, causing the strands to float around his head. "Illya's made it clear she's more of a close ranger operator by default now. If I can help her develop skills like the Schneiden for close range, it'll help her a lot. Miyu's more of the ranged fighter by this point. Of course there's also the Class Cards to take into account. We need to experiment more with what they can do… and now I'm reminded we're lacking Archer since it's inside of Chloe."

"Do you always think out loud like that Eil?"

"Not always. Just when I'm mulling things over." Eil said. "Wait…"

He realized it when he heard a playful snicker. A familiar one. Eil turned and saw that Chloe was there looking down at him, her own drenched hair hanging about her but not a thing hidden. Eil proceeded to immediately reel away in surprise.

"Chloe?! What the hell are you doing in here?!" Eil yelped, Chloe entering the bath without a care, Eil looking away to avoid looking at her.

"Well I _was_ going to take one earlier, but I was also watching you three train today." Chloe replied, stretching her arms, Eil's eyes darting to and away from her, causing a sly grin to appear on Chloe's face. "I figured I'd wait for Illya and Miyu to leave the bath. I'd rather not bother than you know?"

"You mean you instead waited for them to leave so you could sneak in when I was in here." Eil dryly responded, Chloe chuckling as he turned to her while giving the sassy retort.

"Ah I love it when you respond so dryly. I just can't hide anything from you can I?" Chloe shifted closer, Eil continuing to retreat… at least until he hit the wall, at which he shot to the side further along in the bath, Chloe chuckling as she leaned forward in the water. "Ah c'mon Eil, you don't have to run like that. It's not like I'm gonna bite you y'know?"

"I'd rather play it safe after you _assaulted me._ Remember that?" Eil bit, Chloe nodding as she twirled a bit of her hair. Eil felt a twitch in his eye at noticing it was the same tic as Illya.

"I am sorry about that. I just needed the mana at the time so I did what I had to." Chloe said, Eil glaring at her. "Hey I promised I wouldn't be taking mana by force from now on didn't I?"

"That doesn't assure me of a thing!" Eil snapped, bumping against the main fountain, groaning as Chloe took the shot to move over and keep him in place by sitting right on his legs. "What do you even want?"

"I can name a few things." Chloe said, Eil looking away as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "There is _one_ main thing. See, this mark here has that annoying little thing I mentioned before. You know, how it doesn't just transmit pain. It makes things… troublesome. Especially considering how surprisingly bold Illya is."

"None of that is my fault."

"Is it?"

"… moving on." Eil tried to shift, but Chloe's positions wouldn't let him move at all, and he sighed. "So what _do_ you want? A mana transfer or something?"

"I _would_ like that, though I'm actually good for now." Chloe said, licking her lips. "But perhaps what I _do_ want to do could get me topped up."

"No." Eil flatly replied, Chloe narrowing her eyes. "There's other ways to get Mana. I know damn well what _method_ you're thinking of using, and my answer is no. I said I would deal with your, we all are, but unless it is an absolute last resort and you're so lacking in mana you're on the verge of vanishing, I'm not doing _any_ mana transfers through physical methods."

"Well you're not fun." Chloe said, then smirking as she shuffled her hips, Eil's face going red as she did. "Ohohoho~! Sadly for you Eil I think a little friend of yours is thinking otherwise… my my, Illya takes _this_ in her? You're surprisingly gifted in a lot of ways Eil."

"Stop." Eil grumbled, looking to the side as Chloe pressed in, her hand in a _very_ touchy place at the moment. He put his own hands up and grabbed Chloe by her wrists, forcing her off of him with a grumble. "Just stop, alright? If you need mana we can set up a ritual. But just cut this out. It doesn't get anybody anywhere."

"And what, leave you with _that_ raring to go?" Chloe's sultry speaking hit a wall when Eil looked at her flatly, Chloe looking at Eil with lidded eyes as his grip kept her firmly back. "Would it kill you to just play along a bit?"

"More I'm curious if you're actually being genuine about anything." Eil said, Chloe now looking away. "Don't think I forgot about our little talk in front of the infirmary the other day. Those are questions I still want answers too."

"And I said they didn't matter." Chloe said, Eil raising a brow.

"Do they? Or are you just _pretending_ they don't so you can avoid the issue?" Eil's response made Chloe's look cloud over, the lilac-haired girl looking down, taking in a long breath. She didn't speak, but Eil could feel it through his hands her body had started shaking. He'd hit some kind of nerve on her. But he felt it was a nerve she had to have hit. "You have questions too, right?"

"Like I said, I just want to have a normal life and be a normal girl! It's done there, and that's all." Chloe said, surprising Eil when she wrenched free of his hands and grabbed his wrists in return, Eil yelping. "And right now, I at least want to kiss the boy I like under a better situation."

"I said no dammit!" Eil said, moving back as much as he could as Chloe edged closer, stopping for a moment though as he registered what she said. _"Wait… she was serious when she said that, wasn't she? I mean… she is technically a split personality of Illya but… no, that's not how that…"_

 _ **BAM!**_

"CHLOEEEEE!" A resounding yell echoed through the bath chamber, Eil and Chloe turning to the source. Standing there now was an only towel covered Illya, who had a poisonously sweet smile on her face as she saw the situation that was going on. And then she grabbed Ruby. "I should've known something was up! I almost forgot you were here! What do you think you're doing huh Chloe?"

"You get so much time to have Eil to yourself. I just wanted in on a bit of the action." Chloe said, Eil shoving her away now that he could get free.

"And I was saying no. Dammit why don't you girls listen at times like this?" Eil put a hand to his head as he grumbled, though he didn't dare actually rise out of the water right now. "Illya, put Ruby down will you? There's no need to get…"

"SHOOT!"

"… violent."

Eil only finished after Illya had fired a blast at Chloe, who responded in kind by conjuring a sword and whacking the blast to the side. While it _did_ ram into the ceiling, at the least it didn't make a hole. Eil looked over to the door and saw that like him, Miyu was looking incredulous at what was going on now. Eil put a hand to his face as the "sisters" glared down at each other… it would probably had been more effective of a scene were one not stark naked and the other trying to keep her towel on.

"Alright, cutting the shit. Andromeda!" Eil clapped his hands together and threw one out, a familiar set of balls of light flying out, splitting off and surrounding Illya and Chloe, the two girls quickly being bound up in the Andromeda chains. "No fighting today, got it you too? We're actually going to talk things out like civil _people_ and not have another fight. Especially you Chloe! Remember the brand? Fighting won't do a thing since you'll feel whatever pain Illya does."

"But I won't with her!" Illya said, Eil grumbling. As he got out of the water, Miyu quickly rushed over and handed him a towel, Eil throwing it on. "Eillll come on! She was attacking you again!"

"And I had it under control." Eil said, looking between both girls again. "I'm saying this towards both of you, you need to cool off with this stupid rivalry. Chloe, you want a normal life yeah? And Illya, _you_ want Chloe to stop being a bother… starting fights over stuff like this won't do that."

"Oh please, like she'll stop!" Chloe bit. "She'll just keep blaming me for every problem that happens!"

"I wouldn't if you didn't keep causing so many of them!" Illya said, Eil grumbling as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The things I do. Release!" Eil snapped his fingers, the chains fading away, Chloe and Illya maintaining their stare down. "First off, let's get out of the freaking bath alright? Hard to take anything seriously when we're all either naked or covered in towels."

"I agree with Eil." Miyu said, also stepping between the "sisters" with Eil. "Besides, Rin-san and Lluvia-nee-san wanted to have a meeting today. There's some things they wanted to discuss."

"FINE!" Illya and Chloe both stamped a foot and marched out, leaving Eil and Miyu staring at them incredulously as they left while glaring at each other.

"They're not going to stop this for a while, aren't they?" Miyu said, Eil shaking his head.

"The glorious war of sisterly rivalry I suppose." He replied, Miyu nodding.

* * *

The meeting room was quietly tense. Rin was looking across the younger group with a slightly worried expression on her face, mostly because of the lightning shooting between Illya and Chloe at the time. It made it kind of difficult to feel like she could even get a word in when the two were electrifying the air. She didn't want to know what happened… though all guesses from the young magus was that it most definitely involved Eil.

Who sneezed when the thought crossed Rin's mind. It was also a point to be made Illya had her chair firmly planted next to Eil's.

"Sooo…" Rin spoke up, clearing her throat a bit. "Lluvia and I called this meeting so that we could carry on from the things we've had to put on hold for a bit."

"Right, all of that." Eil pulled out the Saber Card and set it on the table, turning his look to Chloe. "So, Chloe, you feel like actually talking to us about things yet? That and anything else you know but are being annoyingly cryptic about."

"What, about me?" Chloe said, coyly putting a finger to her chin, Eil narrowing his eyes at her. "When you try and get the answer right away, your teacher doesn't like it. You need to think for yourself and reach it on your own."

"The thing is that's what we're _trying_ to do." Eil said, tapping a finger on the table. "The _problem_ is being cryptic and dodging the question doesn't do anything to lead us to an actual answer."

"Oh okay okay, so you don't want to talk yet." Rin muttered, putting a hand to her head.

"You are not the center of our focus, Chloe." Lluvia said, bringing up the other few Cards they still had with them from her pocket. "Our problem is the disappearance of the Archer Card, which according to Eilwyn, now forms the core of your existence."

"Right, the Card. With all the fuss about Chloe, I forgot to bring it up." Rin added. "Illya, when we went to the cave, you used the Card to transform like you all did against Berserker, right?"

"Oh, now that you mention it…" Illya murmured, looking off to the side.

"Neither the Mage's Association nor I understand how the Cards can be used that way." Rin stated, Eil now turning the Saber card through his fingers. "Even further is the fact Eil and Miyu used them that way as well. How did you even manage that?"

"Well… I guess I just followed Eil's example when we fought Berseker. As for the other times, I can't really explain them, even if you ask." Illya said, looking at a hand with a lidded look. "When things seem hopeless and I want to do something about it, whatever I need to do somehow comes to me. And the next thing I know, I've done something about it. It's like that…"

"That's not an explanation!" Lluvia snapped, Illya reeling as she yelped when the older girl slammed her hands onto the table, Eil putting up a hand to stop Lluvia from lunging at Illya.

"But I really don't understand it myself!" Illya yelped, Eil then shoving Lluvia to the floor.

"And now?" Rin asked, Illya looking at her in confusion. "Since Chloe appeared, has anything like that happened ever since?"

"Huh? N-No, but…" Illya murmured, Rin then turning to Eil.

"I'll ask Eil at the least. You know the basics about how the Cards are used so far. In that by using a Mystic Code or other high order weapon, a Card can be Included to produce a Noble Phantasm. In a way they're a kind of summoning device. That's as far as the Association could analyze them… and yet the three of you were able to use your own bodies to summon the essence of a Heroic Spirit itself." Rin said, Eil folding his arms as he stared at the Saber card.

"Well, I suppose all I did was apply the same theory." Eil stated, holding up a finger. "I mean I also figured out you can use an Include by just shoving enough Mana into the Card and produce the Noble Phantasm that way. But in that order it's also a lot more draining, as I found out when I Included Lancer that way. But as for the other part, an Install… it was more like a variant on the Summoning Ritual used in Holy Grail Wars. So, the short of it is, I think the Install function involves overriding a portion of your own existence with that of a Heroic Spirits by using a Card. This allows you to use their abilities and manifest more than just their Noble Phantasm. For example, Saber is obviously King Arthur, and Lancer, going by the Gae Bolg and the reports, is Cu Chullain. So by Installing those Cards it lets you in effect _become_ a variant of that Spirit for a while."

"Well that just piles on more questions about their nature than I would like… at least we have _that_ answer. Miyu?"

"It's the same for me." Miyu said, Rin nodding.

"So, Illya, what do you want to do?" Rin said, Illya tilting her head. "Bringing all the Cards back to the Association is our final goal. I can't speak for Eil, but for Lluvia and I, frankly, so long as we fulfill that goal, we don't care about much else."

"Though, currently, we're taking a bit of a detour." Lluvia said, Eil scoffing with a snide look.

"Bit? You two are stuck with me for the next year because you just couldn't be civil after we finished up last time." Eil said, Rin and Lluvia both glaring at him, the boy shrugging in response.

"Either way!" Rin snapped, Eil snickering. "As far as how they're collected, we want to comply with your will, Illya. Let me hear your wishes."

"Don't talk like some damn genie." Eil sniped, moving his head when Rin fired a gandr at him.

"You shut up!"

"My wishes huh?" Illya said, putting a hand to her chin as she tilted her head in thought. "It's not a big wish but… I guess I just want to go back to my normal life."

"Well, that's understanda-" As Eil spoke, a sudden slam brought everyone's attention to Chloe. She'd slammed a fist down onto the table, hard enough that a crack had shot across it's length

"I won't agree to that decision. Could you not make that decision on your own?" The expression on Chloe's face was icy cold as she looked at Illya, her glare just as chilling as it was murderous. "Illya, do you understand what your request means?"

"Chloe, don't start." Eil muttered, Illya's face confused, and she instinctively grabbed onto Eil's sleeve, an action that made Chloe's glare worsen.

"What do you mean by "normal life"?" But the tan skinned girl continued anyway, Eil's right hand balling up tightly and his expression shrouding over. "Was I a part of your normal life?"

"Don't be hasty Chloe! We haven't decided what we're going to do with you!" Rin said, Chloe turning her glare to the older girl.

"Lies." Chloe flatly said. "What are your wishes, Rin, Lluvia? The Cards, right?"

"What are you trying to say?" Lluvia asked, Chloe clicking her tongue, standing up and putting her hand to her chest.

"The Card is right here. Just like Eil's been saying, it's now the core of my being."

"That doesn't mean there isn't some way!" Eil said, standing up, the chair he was on falling from how quickly he did. "What do you think we're trying to figure out?!"

"It doesn't matter. I guess it's time." Chloe stepped away from the table, a glow surrounding her as she scanned the group over, her Archer attire flashing into form. "That's the end of this farce. It seems I don't have a future either way. In that case, let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

"Chloe, stop now!" Eil said, though mana was already arcing over his arm as he grabbed the Saber card, Ruby and Sapphire flying to Illya and Miyu as Chloe drew her bow and produced the spiraled arrow, knocking it on as she moved closer to the window. "Scutum!"

The barrier appeared in front of Eil and the others right as Chloe fired, the arrow slamming into the shield full force. Eil winced as pain arced up his arm from stopping such a close range shot, though the blast ceased quickly… but, a hole was left in the wall, and Chloe was nowhere to be seen as the dust settled, Eil dismissing the barrier with a wave of his hand.

"Sh-She escaped?" Illya murmured, Eil balling a hand tightly enough blood started dripping from his palm after a second, Illya then screaming. "Jeez! Now we really are back to where we started!"

"We're going to have to capture her again? Give me a break." Rin muttered, Eil sighing as he relaxed his hand, Illya slowing her small freak out when she saw the blood dripping down his fingers, though the small wounds quickly closed in flickers of white flames, to the confusion of the girl.

"I at least wished she'd have left without destroying the house." Lluvia murmured. Eil sighed and left the room, Illya staring for a moment as he slammed the door behind him. Taking a moment herself, Illya followed Eil out. It took a moment of looking but she found him standing at one of the outlooks of the mansion, the boy staring out over the lines of trees past were they were.

"Eil, what was that all about?" Illya asked, Eil sighing as he looked at his still blood covered hand.

"Illya, I know what it is you meant by normal life." Eil said, closing his hand, turning to look at her. "But do you think Chloe did? As far as she's concerned when you say "normal life" she means one without all of… this. All of _us."_

"What?! No! I wouldn't… I wouldn't want that!" Illya said, going to the railing herself. "I mean, yeah I just want to be done with all the magical things and have things go back to normal, but that doesn't mean I want all of you gone either! Why would I want that? Even her… I may not like Chloe that much but that doesn't mean I want her to disappear or anything."

"But does _she_ know that?" Eil asked, Illya turning to look forward. "As far as Chloe is concerned you only see her as someone butting in and messing with their life in a way they can't stand. It's not that I don't get why you don't like her but… she wants a normal life just as much as you do, Illya. You two _are_ the same person at your cores after all."

"I don't think I'm okay with that, honestly. But, if that's the case then why is she messing with things so much?" Illya asked, Eil sighing.

"I wish I knew. If I had to guess, it's because she's looking for answers to something. Illya… hmm… no, that's not my place to tell you. Either of you." Eil sighed again, and Illya tilted her head in confusion. "It has to do with your family. I don't have the right to tell you anything about that… there's likely a reason you don't know. But, Illya… I'm not a person who "normal" is something I can ever have… Chloe either, despite what she wants."

"What do you mean?"

"People like me… those of us closely tied up in magic and that world. "Normal" is something we can't be a part of. At some point in my life I'm going to have to move on and do the same things my parents are doing. I won't ever just be sitting around and having a normal job and a normal family. I'll always find myself getting wrapped up in things like this, because that's what my family does." Eil looked at Illya, and she saw a glimmer of a purple glow in his eyes for a second. "And a part of me doesn't want to drag you into that life, Illya. It feels like I don't have a right to pull you any further into this than has already happened."

"Eil, what do you mean?" Illya grabbed Eil by the arm, the boy sighing and looking away. He didn't want to look at her, he could already see the welling tears in the corner of his eyes. "Eil I… I know what I said but, that's just for now! I just want things to be normal right now. I still want to be with you!"

"And if you do then you'll have to give "normal" up at some point." Eil said, again looking at the blood on his hand. "It's not that I don't want to either, Illya. I really, honestly do want to stay with you. But you need to understand that. That goes for me _and_ Miyu. We're not "normal" people. We're magi and we always will be. Even if my case is different, that fact isn't going to change. But right now this doesn't have to do with us… it has to do with you and Chloe. This situation is between the two of you… I don't think I'm the one who can fix it."

"Eil, I…" Illya went quiet and pulled Eil into a hug, the boy keeping his bloody hand away from her, putting the other to Illya's head. "I just don't know right now. I _do_ want things to go back to normal… but I don't want anybody to disappear. Normal _does_ mean you and Miyu are here. But I… let's find Chloe and solve all of this first. Maybe… maybe once we do I'll have an answer."

"That's fine." Eil said, a gentle edge to his voice. "I'm not saying you need to rush into anything. Let's see… well, Master would say that for us, we just need to enjoy being young. We can actually worry about those kind of things when we're older."

"Yeah… yeah you're right." Illya said, moving back, then looking at Eil's hand, which he hid. "Come on, let's go get that cleaned up… does it hurt?"

"It's fine. All I did was prick myself with my nails. Happens sometimes." Eil said, Illya pulling his arm out and looking at his palm. Aside from the smeared blood on it, there wasn't a single mark present despite what he'd done earlier. "See? Perfectly fine."

"Yeah… it is." Illya murmured, pulling out a cloth from her pocket and wiping the blood off. "Eil, I'm sorry if what I said hurt at all. I know you got it but, still… mmm… I should apologize to Miyu too."

"After all of _that_ I don't think you needed to apologize to me." Eil said. "Though Miyu… not sure how she took it. And then Chloe… once we find her and resolve this entire mess."

"I almost wish mom and dad were here… though I'm not sure how they'd take finding out about… that." Illya said, Eil's eyes suddenly going wide like he'd just had some kind of revelation come to him. "Eil?"

"That might just be it." Eil murmured, turning forward again and putting a hand to his chin, a foot tapping quickly. "If anybody would know about what happened to the Einzberns… no, who could give an answer about this entire situation…" and then he went from a look of revelation to abject horror, "Wait… but if they find out about what we do. Ahhhh! No no no, that's the worst case scenario! Her dad is _that guy!_ What the hell could happen to me if I finds out I…"

"EIL! What are you talking out loud about?" Illya shouted to get Eil's attention, Eil blinking and only _just_ realizing he'd started to ramble on.

"Just… I was thinking there'd be no better people to ask about this kind of thing than your parents." Eil said, Illya blinking. "But… that also means there'll be a direct view on your own family, Illya. The Einzberns… you don't know much about them do you?"

"Uh… no, no I don't."

"Then this might be your chance to learn more about them as well as resolve things with Chloe."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Final-ly! Took me too long to get back here, but now here we are. Things are cranking up for sure. Hehehehe. I plan for some fun next chapter… mostly of the comedic kind of course.**


	19. Zwei Chapter 6

Fate/Asterism Liner Zwei

 **Chapter 6: Confrontation**

Without a whole lot of surprise to it, Chloe wasn't at school the day after she ran off. Of course the group didn't have much of a clue as to just where she vanished off too, but at the least they knew she couldn't have gotten far… of course they had to actually find her first before any kind of confrontation could come about. At the least they could feed Taiga the excuse Chloe had suddenly caught a cold and needed to spend a few days at home to buy themselves some extra time.

And despite things, Illya couldn't help but be visibly tense. She'd started mulling over things the previous night and even knowing Chloe had her Shared Death curse on her, Illya's nature meant she couldn't stop herself from panicking about it _just_ a bit.

"I have to be on guard!" Illya replied, very firmly holding one of the bookcases and the edge of the windowsill. Eil was somewhere between sighing in exasperation and thinking how darn cute she looked when panicked like that. "She's probably plotting my death somewhere right now!"

"She feels your pain every time you get hurt, so I doubt it." Miyu added, turning to Eil. "Did your search with Rin and Lluvia turn up anything?"

"Nope. She's probably been concealing her presence so we can't track her with magic. Considering she's also got Archer's abilities she can definitely use his skills as well." Eil leaned back against his chair as he folded his arms, giving a thoughtful hum. "I'm tyring to think of places she couldn't gone but I just can't think of any right now… she'd have to have gone somewhere here in Fuyuki… the mansion outside of town?... that's a possibility…"

"She was in such a rush about it though. Hagh, there's so much to explain, but she just ran off before!" Illya said, folding her arms, tilting her head. "Is this what it's like to have a troublesome little sister?"

"Illya, Chloe is-GAGH!" Miyu was cut off when a _backpack_ came flying at her head, knocking her to the side and out cold, Eil and Illya yelping.

"Miyu?! Are you okay?!" Illya yelped.

"SUMMER! IS IT SUMMER YET?!" Tatsuko's voice came shouting out, the short girl on top of a desk, attempting to yank off her shirt, "IS IT SUMMER YET?!"

"She's having another episode…" Suzuka sighed, Eil's head meeting his desk.

"Will someone do something about her?!" Nanaki shouted.

"On it!" Eil shouted, Illya tossing him a nearby cardboard box, Eil proceeding to slam it down on Tatsuko's head, his hand firmly planted on the top of it before he swiped it off and struck a small pose, Tatsuko freezing in place, "And stay calm."

"Sh-She calmed down." Suzuka hummed, a hand on her chin.

"I never knew there was such an effective method." Nanaki mused.

"Never underestimate the usefulness of a cardboard box." Eil's matter-of-fact tone was accented by his serious expression and his folded arms, Tatsuko's hair antenna sprouting the box, the girl starting to shuffle around, Illya sighing.

"Jeez, what's gotten into you?" Illya inquired, her friends sighing.

"Sorry, sorry…" Suzuka responded, "But remember how we talked about going to the beach together?"

"And the first day of summer break is your birthday, right, Illya?" Nanaki added.

"So, we discussed going on that day, and having your birthday party at the same time." Suzuka stated.

"Huh? Really?!" Illya excitedly gasped, Eil humming.

"That's a pretty good idea actually. Two birds with one stone." Eil hummed, a hand on his chin. _"For the sake of the mood I'll just neglect mentioning my birthday is literally the day before then."_

"Miyu, Eil, you'll come too, right?" Mimi asked.

"Count me in. Haven't been to the beach in ages, sounds fun." Eil chuckled. Being he'd previously been staying in England the idea of a beach trip wasn't really a typical thing. Then again he was also Russian by birth so that was even _less_ so due to how cold the country often was. Well, unless you were crazy enough to just dive into freezing cold water. Which some people were.

"S-Sure." Miyu nodded. It also crossed Eil's mind that her sheltered upbringing probably meant Miyu had never once been to that kind of outing in her life.

"Me, Tatsuko, Nanaki, Mimi, Illya, Miyu, and Eil." Suzuka counted off, giving a hum, "Adding Chloe makes eight."

"Huh? W-We're inviting her too?" Illya asked, Eil sighing.

" _Here we go…"_ Eil thought, a hand moving to cover his eyes. Not that troubles would be so easily dissuaded from the situation overall, of course. There was still the massive factor Chloe was a hell of a troublemaker and until some kind of reform happened… well… obvious result.

"Hey hey, don't exclude her!" Suzuka piped up, "I know she's a big troublemaker, but she's a friend, right?"

"'Friend' spelled as 'r-i-v-a-l'!" Tatsuko piped up, still wandering around wearing the box on her head like it was totally normal for her to be doing.

"That that thing off already." Nanaki quipped.

"We'll be sure to tell her if we see then." Eil spoke up, Illya glancing at him.

"Sounds good then!" Suzuka chuckled.

"Yeah… right. We'll definitely be sure to do that." Illya murmured, Miyu and Edge glancing at Illya than each other, bits of concern evident on both of their expressions. It was pretty clear Illya was definitely mulling over all of this. Even with what she'd said to Eil before, this was asking her to rethink the entire idea of her life. But maybe also because what was "normal" to her was starting to change now as well.

* * *

"I need to find something to occupy myself in class with, these lessons are too easy." Eil let out a sigh as he finished tying his sneakers, the end of day bell just concluding it's ring, Illya chuckling as she slipped her own shoes back on.

"You really are smart Eil. I didn't think anyone could solve that one." Illya chuckled.

"That was just basic multi-variable multiplication… it's not that hard." Eil quipped, he and Illya noting Miyu just standing stock still at her locker. "Either way we're gonna need to start looking for Chloe, wherever she went… after we get home of course."

"Yeah, definitely." Illya nodded. Miyu still stood still for a moment, then clearing her throat.

"Illya, you go on ahead, there's somewhere I want to stop by today before we do that." Miyu stated, Eil shrugging when Illya looked at him. Whatever it was they'd just reconvene later after all, so not a big deal to the two.

"Sure…" Illya murmured, though as Eil stood to leave, Miyu grabbed his jacket's sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.

"Though… Eil, can you follow me for a bit too?" Miyu requested, not turning away from her locker, Eil glancing to Illya, who after a brief moment of looking… odd, just sighed and carried on, giving a small wave.

"I'll see you two later then. Let's meet at Eil's place in… what would you say an hour?" Illy suggested.

"Sure, no problem." Eil replied. The three left, though since Eil was following Miyu, they veered off in an entirely different direction, and all in complete silence to boot. Eil was feeling this tenseness in the air around Miyu, it being even more evident when they reached a park, Miyu stopping at the entrance, "So, a park huh? Or is there more to it?"

"Eil… I'm sorry." Miyu murmured, Edge blinking, only for the next moment to have him lashed with a binding spell, Miyu holding Sapphire in her stick form, Eil stumbling and hitting the fence.

"OW! Miyu, what the hell?!" Eil snapped, yelping when Miyu reached into his pockets and swiped the Saber card, "Hey! Miyu, what're you doing? What's this about?!"

"Again… I'm sorry… Sapphire, start a transfer spell." Miyu stated, the stick shifting.

"Are you sure Lady Miyu?" Sapphire asked, the girl nodding, "I do apologize Master… I hope you'll forgive me!"

"Wait what? Miyu what're you…" Eil was cut off when the spell activated, and next he knew, he was stumbling to the floor of the foyer of the Edelfelt mansion, the binding spell breaking as he winced, "Ow… what the hell was that about? Why would… oh shit… this is about what Illya said."

He was already realizing it as he stood up and shot for the door. Miyu was planning to go find Chloe on her own… and it wasn't going to be a simple confrontation at all. She wouldn't have taken the Saber Card if she was planning on a simple, civil conversation.

"Dammit can't things just go easily for once when things like this do down?!"

* * *

And confronting Chloe was most certainly Miyu's goal. After teleporting Eil away she'd gone off into the woods on her own. Again in complete silence, only the sound of her feet pressing down on the grass making noise in the sun filtered, summer bloom filled path through. But of course the wood in this part of Fuyuki only went so far, and Miyu's eyes went wide as the tree line broke and she saw what was there on the other end of the woods. Down the sheer cliff and as far out as could be seen, the deep blue ocean spreading widely out before her, the sunlight bouncing off of it and causing the barely calm waters to glimmer like an expansive gemstone.

"It really was close… the sea." Miyu murmured, her expression awed as the wind blew by. "Wow."

"Miyu-sama?" Sapphire floated out back into view as Miyu kept staring… but the reason the two were here soon made herself known as she appeared on a rock in front of Miyu.

"You're acting like this is the first time you've seen the ocean, Miyu." Chloe said, placing a hand on her waist. "So you actually did come alone, I'm glad about that."

"I only responded to your summons. What do you want?" Miyu responded. This was a true matter. After that night, Chloe had called out Miyu herself through a message on their phones. Miyu had actually eavesdropped on Eil and Illya as well, so she knew well enough herself what Illya really wanted out of all of this… but Chloe was clearly not going to be persuaded so easily. There was something personal behind all of this, the thing they'd been trying to piece together about Chloe the entire time. Miyu hoped she could figure that out, even if she had to face Chloe on her own.

"You really are kind, Miyu. Offering to listen to my side." Chloe hummed, putting a finger to her chin. "Nothing like Rin, Lluvia, and the others."

"What about Eil?" Miyu posed, Chloe suddenly going tense. "Eil is the inquisitive type. He asks questions, he looks for answers. I'm sure he's asked you about what your situation is, why you're so intent on going after Illya. But you've always dodged the question… either way, why did you call me out here alone."

"Let's at least sit down and talk, shall we?" And in a sudden move from one place to another, Chloe appeared behind Miyu and had sat the girl down in a chair she'd projected from thin air, Miyu's eyes wide at how sudden the action was. Sapphire had barely been able to get a warning out before it happened.

Miyu quickly shot up and got away, Chloe giving a chuckle as the chair vanished. Miyu's eyes were stone cold as she looked at Chloe, who flicked a bit of her hair.

"You don't need to be that wary of me." A total piece of crap line from Chloe of course. She could be as dangerous as she wanted to be, and Miyu knew it.

" _She got behind me before I even noticed?"_ Miyu thought, Chloe again assuming that coy pose of hers.

"What did I want? Well it isn't like I planned to do anything. I just wanted to talk to you alone, Miyu." Chloe however, definitely wasn't doing anything more than putting Miyu more on alert.

"Teleportation and projection?"

"You really aren't normal, are you Miyu?" Chloe continued, Miyu's hand tightening. "I wonder sometimes how legitimate the claim you're a daughter of the Edelfelt house is. You lived in this world long before you met Lluvia, what was it, five years ago? In that case, I think we can understand each other. There's no reason for you and I to be enemies is there?"

"Answer me one thing." Miyu demanded. "Are you still trying to kill Illya? Is it impossible to coexist with her?"

That was what she had to confirm first. Illya had clearly stated that despite her problems with her, she didn't want Chloe to disappear. That kind of thought just wasn't in Illya's nature to begin with after all. She was too kind a person to wish that on anyone. These issues had certainly been started because of Chloe's antagonistic attitude, and true perhaps exacerbated by Illya's own reactions to them… but the matter was Chloe was certainly the crux of the situation.

"Coexist huh?" Chloe hummed as she thought that out, though her expression wasn't easy for Miyu to read. "That's probably impossible."

"I see."

As soon as she'd been given that reply, Miyu sprung to action. She grabbed Sapphire and fired a blast at Chloe immediately as her Trance occurred. Chloe dodged the blast without much trouble though, an annoyed look on her face as she landed on a rock past the cliff, which now was missing a good part of it because of Miyu's attack.

"Geez, you and Illya have such short tempers."

"True, there may be no reason for us to fight. However…"

"However?"

"If you will become the enemy of my friends, Illya or Eil, then I will eliminate you!" Miyu tightly gripped Sapphire as she said that, swiping the stick to the side. Chloe gave a sigh as she tilted her head.

"You're saying you'll fight for Illya's sake?" Chloe tilted her head, giving a sigh again. "That's strange. She isn't worth that much."

"What?"

"Try to remember, Miyu." Chloe coldly said, her expression darkening. "The words Illya said yesterday, Illya's wish…"

"You're just twisting those words to suit yourself." Miyu snapped back, Chloe's expression shifting to surprise. She had not been expecting that. "Illya never meant she wanted any of us to vanish from her life. Of anything, me, Eil, Rin, Lluvia-nee-san, we're the reason all of this was thrust on Illya, why we made her life something else… but despite that she doesn't want us to vanish, and neither does she want that from you!"

"Ehhh? Why the hell would she want _that?_ You've seen how she's acted, she's done nothing but want me gone since I arrived!" Chloe snapped, Miyu nodding.

"True, but that's because it was so sudden. Illya doesn't want you to vanish, but of course she'd be mad if you suddenly show up and start messing around with her friends and the people she cares about. I at least understand that much." Miyu said, Chloe's eyes shifting to a glare.

"You're starting to piss me off, Miyu."

* * *

Around the same time all of that was happening, Eil had been catching his breath just outside of the Einzbern house. He'd been mulling over events again, but now just decided on the "screw it" option, they didn't have a lot of time. So he stepped up to the door and knocked as civilly as he could to try and not seem like he was in total action mode and not the least bit calm.

And downright conveniently, the door flew open after his fist pulled back, Illya almost careening into him. Thankfully both had their stellar reflexes on their side so Illya was able to move while Eil dodged, both blinking in surprise as the door shut.

"Eil?! Weren't you going somewhere with Miyu?" Illya asked.

"Yeah about that." Eil said, Illya titling her head. "She went off to go after Chloe on her own for some reason. Tch, she even took the Saber Card, meaning she was intending on a fight breaking out if things went that way."

"What?!" Illya yelped. That certainly surprised her, but she also knew there had to be a reason Miyu would do something so drastic. Then again she was already rushing out to go find Miyu and Eil so they could find Chloe anyway, but this was a twist in the script for sure.

"Looks like we were right, Illya. If that's the case then we need to hurry!" Ruby stated, Illya nodding.

"Eil, where did Chloe take you too?"

"The forest area. If I had to guess they might be by the cliffs." As Eil said that, Illya immediately tranced and shot off after they ran into the street, Eil chuckling as his magic circuits already started to light up. "As quick as ever. But I think that's one of her cute points. Time to follow! Connect-"

But before he could cast the spell, Eil immediately cut off the mana flow as a car suddenly pulled up to a screeching stop, nearly hitting the poor boy even if he was able to nimbly dodge it since he'd heard it coming. A white car of a rather fancy classic model. The doors opened and Eil about double took as two people stepped out of it…

* * *

"You're seriously going to put it that way? Illya said it herself: That she wants to go back to her normal life." Chloe was certainly incensed by what Miyu had said, though the cool headed girl certainly didn't look like she was going to conceded the point. "In other words, she's denying her encounters with each of us!"

"No, she's not." Miyu firmly said, Chloe gritting her teeth. "Like I said, you're twisting her words to suit your own view. Whatever your personal grudge against Illya is, I don't know why, but obviously it's why you refuse to exist alongside her. Unlike us, Illya actually has the privilege of being able to make the choice of where her life goes. Eil and I didn't. We're born Magi and that's the path we're set on… is that why then? Do you hate Illya because she has the choice you feel like you don't?"

"SHUT UP! What else could there be huh? The world we live in, the world of thaumaturgy is a blood stained, spiraling world of madness. Eil said it to me himself, "normal" is something we can never have! If Illya wants her "normal" life than she'd have to leave all of this behind!" Chloe then vanished again, reappering behind Miyu. "What reason is there to fight for someone who'd want something like that?"

"If you want a reason… then I have one." To Chloe's surprise, Miyu whipped out the Saber Card right in her face. Chloe jumped away as a blue magic circle expanded out from it as Miyu held the Card out. The circle began to rotate and spiral, splitting into dozens of copies as energy then burst through the air, the sphere that formed beginning to fade, Miyu again garbed in the regalia of Saber, swiping Excalibur to her side, aiming the blade at Chloe as the wind sheathe blew away. "Even if you deny it, my reason, is that those two call me their friend! That's enough for me!"

"I see. I'm happy or you, Miyu." With a fight of course being inevitable, Chloe's hands tensed as she projected the white and black swords into her hold. The air was still for a moment as the two stared one another down… and then Miyu sprung into action.

In their clash, while Chloe was quick as ever, Miyu had Saber's swordsmanship aiding her, easily matching Chloe's blows as she moved around. And due to the difference of their weapons, a powerful enough counter strike from Miyu shattered the blades in Chloe's hands.

Chloe dashed off after the swords broke, Miyu pursuing as Chloe went to the cliff and jumped off, Chloe jumping from standing stones as Miyu struck at her and shattered each one. One advantage Miyu had was Saber also had a natural skill that allowed her to walk on the water as easily as any other surface, so while Chloe had to find a way to maintain her altitude Miyu could afford to land… but being an Archer range was Chloe's specialty zone, and she started raining down projected swords at Miyu, though all the effect did was cause a gout of water to blast up, Chloe gone when it faded. Miyu jumped back to the cliff, and of course, Chloe was there again, leaning against a tree.

This was going to be an endurance fight if it kept up. How long Miyu could keep up the Install versus Chloe's own mana supply.

"You're impressive, Miyu." Chloe commented, looking Miyu's changed form over. "Your visage, your strength. They're all those of the Heroic Spirit. You've housed the Heroic Spirit Saber in your body using the Card. Exactly as I did before."

"So, that was you who fought Saber back then." Miyu said, Chloe nodding.

"Of course. You saw all of it along with Eil, didn't you?" Chloe chuckled again, folding her arms. "You see, I'm _very_ good at cheating. Like for example, say there's a strange Card in my hands, and there's an enemy before me. Now, what should I do? I'm able to instantly answer that question by Installing the Card. That's what I am. Unlike Eil, who could probably understand the theory behind the Cards and how they work if you give him the time, he is a Zvezda Magus after all, I don't understand a thing about them. Even though I don't understand the theory or ideology, I can arrive at the answer. I can omit the process towards achieving results…" and then she teleported again, appearing behind Miyu with new blades in hand. "… and any progress needed to get there!"

Miyu ducked the slash and retaliated with a swing of her own, Chloe dodging away from it, Miyu raising her blade as wind swirled around it. Her mind was racing as she readied the strike. If Chloe could cut through the typical process and produce immediate results, it meant she had to press the assault on her. A chance to attack couldn't be given since that kind of ability meant Chloe could attack much faster than Miyu could with any kind of Servant based ability.

So she did just that, pressing her attacks to keep Chloe on the defensive. Since Excalibur could smash right through Chloe's projections, it have Miyu the slightest of edges to take advantage of. But, of course Chloe had her own incredibly fast reactions and precise attacks, but with the power of a Servant herself, Miyu was able to follow every move just as precisely to counter Chloe's retaliations. Miyu also had the advantage that pure combat wise, Saber outclassed Archer in terms of those statistics.

The fight carried the two around the woods as Miyu's missed slashes cut through trees like simple paper. Chloe retreated and started pelting arrows at Miyu, who blocked with her sword, though a charged shot was enough to push her back a good ways. That was what she had to look out for, the Broken Phantasms. Miyu remembered them well enough from the Berserker battle, knowing one packed the punch of a full Noble Phantasm, and Archer's strength was being able to fire those things off repeatedly.

So she had to advance instead of retreat. Cutting through another arrow, dodging another and leaping from the smoke screen, slamming through a barrier of swords… but that had just been a distraction so Chloe could teleport again. Miyu bounced off the water, but as she went for an upward slash, Chloe smirked in response as she projected a new weapon. And with the throw, snared Miyu's arms to a tree.

"That's no good. No good at all, Miyu." Chloe said, approaching the snared Miyu. "A weak, thoughtless swing like that will never reach me. You need to be as precise as Eil at times like this, and you're getting too heated. Maybe take some notes from him eh?

" _Weak swing?"_ Miyu's gaze though, hardened a bit. She had the same feeling in her as the last time she'd fought Chloe and been caught trying to hit her with Rule Breaker. She felt something _different_ about this. _"Something decisively separates her from the corrupted Heroic Spirits who fought purely on instinct. She's the first enemy we've faced who can think."_

"Now, what should I do?" Chloe projected her white sword and swiped it to just at Miyu's throat. "If you keep getting in my way, I'll kill you first, and then go to kill Illya. Can't really do anything about Eil."

"But if you do that, then you'll…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll die from our shared pain." Chloe may have given a snide chuckle, but there wasn't a hint of it in her face. "So, let's all die together as good friends, and end this. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Miyu growled and wrenched her arms around, cutting through the tree and freeing herself. Her sword came back around, Chloe quickly blocking their blades sparking together.

"I don't intend to join you in death or be forced to join you." Miyu replied, Chloe smirking. "I'll ask you again: Do you still refuse to coexist?!"

"I already told you that coexistence is impossible." Chloe said, the lock breaking as Miyu swung harder.

"Then I'll end this here!" Miyu's blade gathered more wind around it, Chloe giving a sigh about how unfortunate this was… but as the two charged each other, they stopped dead when a blast of mana shot between them from above. And Illya landed in front of them, looking between the other girls with a stern look.

"Both of you, stop this." Illya said, Chloe gritting her teeth. "Stop fight-oh…"

Miyu awkwardly looked away as Illya saw her in the Saber Install. And of course not one to waste a chance, Chloe appeared behind Illya with blades barred, Ruby shouting a warning… and in the same instant as Chloe slashed, she found herself countered by Illya, who was now holding Ruby in the same sword conversion that Eil himself had shown her the other day. Only this one had mana focused into it, and the blade smashed through Chloe's projections, sending her skidding back along the ground.

"Damn, you actually learned something." Chloe muttered, clearly annoyed as Illya, while clumsily, took a stance of her own. "Just cut it out. You're far too selfish, Illya. Are you here to tell us not to fight over you? It's too late to show up acting like a princess!"

"No! I'm here to tell you to stop because it's pointless!" Illya replied, Chloe clicking her tongue. "Ku-no, Chloe, whatever you _think_ I meant isn't true! Whatever reason you two are fighting for, stop! I frankly don't care either, because like I said it's pointless!"

"Really?! Then why did you say you wanted to go back to your normal life huh!? You have to know what that means!" Chloe shouted, Illya nodding.

"I do. But, that doesn't mean I want all of you out of my life!" Illya firmly replied, Chloe gritting her teeth again. "When I said "normal" I just meant without all of this magical stuff happening! I want to actually have fun with all of you! We're only in our first year of high school, why should we _have_ to go through all of this? I know that Eil and Miyu were born into that kind of world… they don't have a choice but to be part of it."

"Exactly my point!"

"Illya, we've finished talking." Miyu said, stepping in front of Illya. "Chloe has no intent of coexisting… so, I have to defeat her here!"

"No, no you don't!" Illya said, stepping between Miyu and Chloe again. "Let me finish first! They may not have had a choice, but at the same time _do_ have the choice about whether I want to be involved in their world! Chloe, you said it too, you wanted a normal life as well right? You can choose that too… look, I know we have our differences, and I still don't like you that much, but I don't want you to vanish, I don't want you to die. I'm _not_ denying your existence, if that's what you think."

"Gugh, don't think you can draw me in like that! I'm not convinced that easily dammit! You and I can never coexist Illya!" Chloe snapped.

"And why is that?! I don't even know _why_ you hate me so much! All you've ever done is dodge our questions, that's part of why I'm so frustrated!"

"Shut up shut up shut up! You already stole _my_ life so stop butting in already!"

"I… what… stole… what are you talking about?" Illya gave a breath, her look sinking. "I'm sorry. I really am sorry, Chloe. To you too, Miyu. I didn't mean it, but maybe my words were denying your existence, and my encounters with you, Eil, and the others. I said it without thinking, I didn't know what it meant or that it would hurt others. I really _do_ want to have all of you here though! This is all just so new to me, and there's so little I know about this world of yours."

"So what?" Chloe bit.

"So tell me! Why do you hate me so much?! What do you mean by "stole your life"? What does that even mean? I won't know unless you tell me, and we can't work anything out so long as I don't know! What is it you really want?"

Chloe just looked annoyed while Miyu looked satisfied with that. Illya's words were earnest through and through, she meant every word of it… but perhaps that earnestness was exactly what annoyed Chloe.

"I've told you haven't I? I want to kill you. I want to totally eliminate your existence." Chloe said, repeating the point once more.

"Then would killing me satisfy you? What about after that? You really don't have any wishes of your own?"

"I don't have to tell you what they are." Kuro bit back, a tone almost like venom in her voice. "If you _did know_ what I wanted, then what would you do? Could you actually fulfil my wishes, when _yours_ is to return to your normal life and reject your relationships with all of us?"

"Like I said I don't mean it that way! Stop twisting what I say to try and justify yourself!" Illya snapped, Chloe angrily growling at her. "And if you do tell me, I'm sure I can… no, I _will_ make it happen! So please, tell me!"

"No!"

"Chloe!"

"Like hell. No way I'd tell anything to the one who's had everything since birth!"

"Why?" Illya's grip on Ruby was getting tight. Clearly she wanted to push past this badly, but Chloe's utter refusal was starting to get to her. What was driving her so badly Chloe would utterly reject Illya like this, as if there was absolutely no possibility the two could ever be in the same world together?

"Because telling you wouldn't do a thing. I haven't even told Eil anything, because it wouldn't help matters either. The problem is his family and their role, not him… besides, if you did know, could you really sympathize with me? That's awfully nice of you." Chloe's smirk had turned right to bitter, and Illya's arms slacked seemingly in some kind of resignation, Chloe pulling her swords out as her expression turned wicked, Miyu taking a stance again. "Now, that's enough talking. It's about time we finish this fight. I'm only seeking one thing, Illya: For you to quietly disappear from this world!"

Chloe and Miyu charged each other again, Illya starting to yell… only for the roar of a car engine to crash into any noise. The same white car that had nearly ran into Eil came careening into the scene by jumping from a nearby ledge, sailing right over the three girls and slamming nose first into the ground, spinning as it's back end slammed down and spun, stopping once it hit the back end of a tree. The girls could only stare in shock as the car lingered for a moment.

"Sheesh, we come home after so long, and you aren't at home…"

"ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"… oh you're fine, hush now. So either way, I used my intuition and found you quite easily!... huh? It won't open."

"OF COURSE IT WON'T AFTER WHAT YOU FUCKING PULLED!"

"Kid, please calm down. It's not like it was that bad."

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"

The first voice was one Illya was _quite_ familiar with, a playful but gentle and elegant woman's voice… and the other was Eil screeching like his life depended on it and in complete horror and what he'd probably just experienced. The third was a man, his voice deep and somewhat scratchy sounding. All in all those voices made Illya _and_ Chloe go utterly wide eyed. After some banging, the doors then flew open, Eil immediately falling out of the car as he scrambled to the ground, looking absolutely terrified for his life as he did.

As for the other two, well… they were Illya and Chloe's parents. A woman who chipperly raised an arm as she jumped out, who bore a resemblance to the girl's so strong and looked so youthful you'd think she was their older sister, not their mother, only looking ever so slightly older than them, her name Irisviel von Einzbern, or just Iri for short.

As for the man, as opposed to his wife he looked quite definitively Japanese. Dark, messy hair, equally dark eyes with a tired droop to them, and a scratchy face of stubble that told of a lack of recent chances to shave, and also dressed head to toe in a black duster and suit. Kiritsugu Emiya, the man of the house and as Eil knew him, the once infamous Magus Killer in the flesh. Not that Illya knew about this fact.

"Yoo-hoo! I'm home Illya!" Irisviel chuckled, Eil slowly managing to stand, Kiritsugu giving him a bit of a hand with that.

"Hey there Illya, been a while. "Kiritsugu also greeted, patting Eil on the back as he groaned in pain. "Just hold it in you'll be fine.

"Illya… your mom is insane…" Eil muttered, Irisviel only chuckling as he started leaning on the car to keep himself standing, the girls however too surprised to respond to the boy.

"M-M-M-Mama?! Papa too?! You're both here?!" Illya gasped.

"Dinner's almost ready, so we came to pick you up." Irisviel chuckled.

"BULL! You got there just as we left… ugh… god I feel sick from that car ride…" Eil put a hand over his mouth again, curling up on the ground in attempt _not_ to barf his guts out, though Irisviel and Kiritsugu now seemed more intent with Chloe as they noticed the tan skinned girl.

"Oh? Oh my, Illya, when did you become a twin?" Irisviel hummed, stepping over to her still confused daughter.

"That is… surprising." Kiritsugu hummed, like his wife seemingly just taking this all in stride without any issues. At all. For some reason.

"Th-This is a c-copy cat… well, kind of… it's really complicated-OH GOD I'M STILL TRANCED IN FRONT OF THEM!" Illya went from shocked murmuring to freak out. Chloe shook her head as she growled again, rushing past Miyu's drawn sword, Illya blocking the attack and pushing the Chloe back with her own sword slash. "W-What are you thinking? Why attack Mama and Papa?"

"She's certainly got a chip on her shoulder." Kiritsugu noted. "Then I again I suppose that much is expected."

"I've missed you, Mama, Papa." Chloe said, sounding all the more bitter than she had before. Eil was steady now, and even he went to get between things, but a blocking arm from Kiritsugu made him stop. "My beloved mama and papa… the ones who erased my existence sixteen years ago!"

"Sixteen years… what do you mean?" Illya asked. Eil glanced at the parents, and he already came with a conclusion… this had to do with the Einzbern family as a whole, there wasn't any doubts about it anymore. Chloe lobbed her swords at them, Illya pushing her parents aside. Eil shot forward as Chloe readied her bow and charged an arrow, acting on instinct, his eyes flashing purple before the glow suddenly burst to bright blew as he threw his arm forward, already casting as white and now blue flames flickered across his arm. Illya wasn't left out either, throwing Ruby forward as she casted as well.

"Pyramid!"

"Scutum!"

The bounded field and crystalline pyramid layered over each other as they were formed, the fired arrow slamming into them. The barriers held up, shattering as the attack faded, Eil and Illya lowering their arms, Eil's arm twitching a bit as sparks of mana shot up it. Chloe landed and attempted to project again, but the moment she did, the forming light flickered out, and she lurched forward. She'd finally exhausted her usable mana supply.

"She's run out. That at least makes this a bit easier." Eil muttered, flicking his wrist.

"Why? Why are you attacking Mama and Papa?!" Illya was also understandably rather taken aback by Chloe's reaction to seeing their parents show up. "This is crazy! Do you realize what you're doing!"

"She knows well enough Illya." Kiritsugu said, his daughter looking at him in surprise. "I'm not surprised she has a grudge against us… granted this is all unexpected. We didn't plan on this being the result of our actions."

"Ohh, is _that_ it, huh Papa? I'm the unexpected result… how nice." Chloe growled, but her expression was completely despondent, like she'd up and given up entirely. Almost. "Like anyone could understand anyway… like anyone could understand how I feel!"

"I understand." Irisviel stated, walking forward towards her other girl, "At least, I understand that you feel sad."

"Mama, no, it's dangerous!" Illya objected, her mother proceeding forward anyway.

"It's alright, come here, Illya!" Irisviel gave a warm, motherly smile as she spread her arms, Chloe growling and shooting forward… then strings of light appeared from the woman's hands, Eil's eyes going wide as the strings then formed a giant fist right above Chloe, "But before that… I think you need some discipline!"

"You might all want to stand back." Kiritsugu said, already pulling Eil and Illya away, Miyu skipping over as well.

The fist slammed into the ground with enough force to smash it, the next thing being seen, as Miyu, Illya, and Eil were in so much shock processing things just became moot, Irisviel was poking the out cold Chloe's cheek. Kiritsugu just sighed, with a face that said "Damn I wish I had something to smoke right now." Clearly he was _quite_ used to his wife's antics.

"You call that discipline?!" Eil shouted, Irisviel chuckling as she glanced at the boy, "Don't keep that sweet smile on after doing something like that!"

"Fighting is bad. Swinging deadly weapons around to fight is out of the question." Irisviel's scolding may have been said towards the dazed Chloe, but it felt as if she was talking to the other three at the same time. They a felt a particular twinge at that.

"M-Mama, what was that?" Illya asked, her mother turning to her. Then came the air of sudden dread, Kiritsugu again pulling Eil and Miyu away.

"Oh right, in these situations I need to punish both!" Irisviel chuckled, another fist of strings forming, Illya starting to cower… before in turn being smashed into the ground herself, Eil and Miyu staring at Irisviel in mixes of shock and fear as the woman kept about her pleasant grinning. "So, since you two are here, would you mind helping me with my daughters? You must be Miyu, right?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Miyu answered, exiting out of the Install, averting her eyes from Eil's as she caught the Card.

"Good. Is it fine if we go to your place? I'd like to clean these two up, and our bath doesn't nearly have enough space for it." Irisviel mused, Miyu only nodding, "Thank you! Eil, please put them into the car if you would. You should easily be able to lift the two of them."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Eil yelped, even saluting out of an impulsive reaction, _"Today just isn't my day."_

"I'm also sure the lot of you want answers." Kiritsugu added, Eil looking over as he started picking Illya up. "We'll be sure to tell you all everything after these two wake up in a bit."

"You mean, that, right?" Eil said, Kiritsugu nodding. "Good… because you know what I asked on the way here."

"Oh we'll answer all of that! After all, I just can't refuse Galea's son an answer. Now c'mon, chop chop!" Irisviel casually strolled back to the car, and Eil have Kiritsugu a look. It was silent, but the man just tilted his head to the side, with Eil's look going stilted. That was all he needed to know. Clearly the two adults had _quite_ the life, that was for sure.

Another thing Eil caught as he loaded Illya and Chloe up into the card, was just how intensely Miyu was looking at Kiritsugu. It gave him an odd vibe… that was the stare of someone who knew another person, but as also entirely off guard at their presence. But, Miyu couldn't possibly know who Kiritsugu was, right? There was no way…?

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well this one was a banger to get out, but oh lordy lord was it fun! Also wanted to get a big ol fight outta the way cause next chapter it's exposition time baby! Also, who's surprised I have Kiritsugu here as well eh? Hehehehe.**


End file.
